‘Special One’ has sights on Spurs return for ace Bale
JOSE Mourinho is set to swoop for Gareth Bale as his first major signing with Tottenham, writes Paul Abbandonato.
Bale’s tenure at Real Madrid is close to untenable, after fans and the local media lashed out at him for supposedly putting Wales ahead of the Spanish giants, dubbing it ‘unforgiveable.’
According to reports, club officials have also labelled Bale’s ‘Wales. Golf. Madrid. In That Order’ flag celebration following the historic Euro win over Hungary as a joke “in very bad taste”.
Mourinho, unveiled as new Spurs boss yesterday, is ready to capitalise on the situation by moving in for Bale in the January transfer window. Manchester United also remain keen on Bale, while a mooted move to China could also be back on the cards.
Whatever, his position at the Bernabeu is beginning to look more and more untenable.
Mourniho has drawn up a wish-list of players he wants to target for Tottenham, including Sporting Lisbon midfielder Bruno Fernandes and Juventus star Paulo Dybala.
But he is a huge admirer of Bale’s talent, always talking up the ability of the Wales superstar, and is being urged by two Tottenham stalwarts to make the move and get the fans onside straight away.
Bale left Spurs to join Real in an £86m world record transfer six years ago.
And former Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, who helped develop Bale at the London giants, said: “What a signing he’d be. That would get Jose on side straight away, the fans would love that. That would be an amazing move for him.”
Former Spurs skipper Michael Dawson backed the Bale-to-Spurs call, telling talkSPORT: “Well, what a shrewd move [re-signing Bale] would be.
“It looks like his term is nearly ending at Real Madrid, and I was thinking there is so much left for Gareth to give. I would love to see him back in the Premier League – what a player. I was lucky to share the same dressing room as him, and he could win games on his own; it was incredible to play in a team like that.
“He’s been to Real Madrid and won every trophy – but what would that cost? He is a world-class player. Whether he would come back, whether Daniel Levy could afford his wages; those type of questions you have to ask, because the figures Gareth is supposedly on are incredible and way out of Spurs’ wage budget and bracket.
“That is where Spurs always seem to struggle.”
WALES fans have little more than a week to wait for the outcome of the Euro 2020 draw.
Ryan Giggs’ men booked their place at next year’s competition with a 2-0 win over Hungary at Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday night.
The draw takes place in Bucharest, Romania, at 5pm on Saturday, November 30, with six groups of four teams.
It will be a complicated format, but there are certain things we do know already.
Wales and Finland will be in the bottom pool of seeds (Pot 4), along with four sides who will qualify through the back door via the Nations League.
The top group of seeds, based upon the most points gained in qualifying, will be Italy, Belgium, England, Spain, Ukraine and Germany. Results against the bottom sides in qualifying pools of six have been discounted.
Under the same system, the second group of seeds will contain France, Switzerland, Croatia, Poland, Netherlands and Russia.
The third group has been confirmed as Portugal, Turkey, Denmark, Austria, Sweden and Czech Republic.
Unfortunately, Wales’ stunning exploits in marching to the semi-finals of Euro 2016 will have no bearing on the seeding system for next year’s tournament.
Given that there are 12 host nations this time, those who have qualified (or could do so via the play-offs) have already been pre-placed into the following groups to ensure they are at home in at least two group games:
Group A: Italy, Azerbaijan (can’t qualify)
Group B: Russia, Denmark
Group C: Netherlands, Romania
(play-offs)
Group D: England, Scotland
(play-offs)
Group E: Spain, Republic of Ireland
(play-offs)
Group F: Germany, Hungary (play-offs)
As nations must play in the group of their host city, much of the draw is pre-determined.
The group draws, as we say, are very complicated, involving seedings and other factors.
Because the Nations League playoff winners, who won’t be known until March, seem likely to go into groups C, D, E and F, it is being suggested Wales and Finland can only go into either Group A or Group B.
Group A will definitely contain Italy who will host matches in Rome.
As for Group B, that will have Denmark and Russia who will stage games in Copenhagen and Saint
Petersburg respectively, along with Belgium as top seeds.
This group cannot contain the Ukraine as top seeds because UEFA have deemed they and Russia need to be separated for political reasons. So Ukraine are set to be in Group C as top seeds, with the Netherlands as second seeds.
Thus, if Wales are in Group A, they will face: Italy, one of France, Poland, Switzerland or Croatia; then one of Portugal, Turkey, Austria, Sweden or Czech Republic.
If Wales are in Group B, they will face: Belgium, Russia and Denmark.
Best case scenario for Wales
This is rather tricky to call as Group B contains a Belgium side that won all 10 of their qualifying fixtures and are currently number one in the world rankings.
Wales have a fine record against them in recent years, but make no mistake, they’re a formidable outfit with Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne heading up a glut of world class stars.
Then Wales would also be up against Denmark and Russia, who as joint hosts would each be playing on home soil.
So Wales would be up against it, meaning the best case scenario looks to be getting a favourable draw in Group A, if there is such a thing.
Wales would play top seeds and hosts Italy. They would then hope to draw either Poland or Switzerland from pot two of seeds.
As for pot three, avoiding Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal would be the main focus, with Turkey, Austria, Sweden and Czech Republic being fairly evenly matched.
Best case: Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Wales.
Worst case scenario for Wales This one looks fairly simple to work out. Wales could be in a doomsday group containing Italy, reigning world champions France and Euro 2016 winners Portugal.
That looks brutal to say the least. Worst case: Italy, France, Portugal, Wales.
So where are Wales likely to be playing?
Group A fixtures will be played at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy and at the National Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Group B fixtures will be held at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark and at the Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
When will everything become official?
The seeding pots will be officially confirmed by UEFA on Thursday and, as we say, the draw takes place on Saturday week.
Only at that point can any of this be officially confirmed, but this is how it might pan out.