04 Aug 2015 07:01:49
Hey eds

Sorry about going over the same thing but just wondering if anything has changed regarding bale

I found benitez comments strange yesterday

Have we been in contact with Madrid regarding bale?

Are we considering a bid?

I recall 002 saying Madrid would sell at right price.

001 said benitez wants to build round bale.

There just.seems to be a lot of.rumours about this.

I really appreciate the work and effort you put into this site it's just this rumour has me excited (not that you wanted to know that ha)

{Ed001's Note - Bale was available for the right price early on, but now it looks like Ronaldo will be playing up front and so it is Benzema who is the surplus forward. Rafa wants to build the club around Bale, Perez loves Bale and think he has a huge future, but, and this is why it is up in the air, James is the star of the advertising. He is the untouchable one. Madrid need to raise some money to invest in the squad, so, while Benzema is the one they want to sell, they would consider selling Bale.

When Bale was bought, he was expected to be the next big star of the marketing campaigns, instead James has overtaken him as the face of adidas. That lessens Bale's value to Madrid. If he was not Perez's blue eyed boy, he would be gone for sure by now. As things stand Perez will do what he can to avoid selling him, but he is not untouchable, unlike James.}

1.) 04 Aug 2015
04 Aug 2015 07:24:48
Thanks ed001 really appreciate that

{Ed001's Note - you are welcome mate, I hope I explained it well enough. It is not a cut and dry situation, unfortunately, so I was trying to give you as much info as I could so you could see why we can't be definite in our answers.}

2.) 04 Aug 2015
04 Aug 2015 08:25:36
Surely they need to secure a replacement for Benzema before selling him? Any idea who they have in mind? And is Arsenal a realistic destination for Karim?

{Ed001's Note - why would they need to replace him when Ronaldo is likely to play that role up top due to his fitness concerns? Ronaldo would replace him. They don't need to replace Ronaldo as they have plenty of players to play that role. So Benzema is surplus, though reluctantly surplus.

Arsene likes Benzema a lot, if a deal can be done, then yes he would want to take him. The issue is the wages, Arsenal will not pay him what he earns at Madrid. So it is not an easy deal to make happen, so I wouldn't hold my breath about him ending up there. Personally I think Benzema would turn them into true title contenders, even favourites.}

3.) 04 Aug 2015
04 Aug 2015 08:53:10
Explained perfectly well ed really appreciate it.

{Ed001's Note - you are very welcome mate.}

4.) 04 Aug 2015
04 Aug 2015 09:35:57
Thank you so much for the update, appreciate it.

My point is that surely fans would want see a big attacking player coming if they were to lose Benzema? Not necessarily a like-for-like replacement, more in terms of status.

And as far as Arsenal are concerned, I don't know what to believe anymore because there are some suggestions that personal terms are already sorted and now we're only waiting on Real and what they want to do.

{Ed001's Note - that is why Madrid want to sell, to buy players, not necessarily attackers though. The fans there are not so much the issue, it is the worldwide fans that affect the merchandising. James is not the biggest name in Spain, but around the world he is the face of Pepsi etc. That is what Perez considers, rather than what the Madrid fans want.}

5.) 04 Aug 2015
04 Aug 2015 13:40:40
Id like to ask about benzema, but i think that horse has been beaten to death, so let me ask something else if you would oblige ed.

In regards to madrid, if they do end up selling bale or benzema, to whoever it be arsenal, man utd, man city and so on.

who would be their primary target.

we all know they want de gea, surely that is more a team move rather than sponsership revenue?

and besides a player of his quality, they would need to supplement someone like bale with similar ability, and besides hazard or reus i can't think of any that would fill that role without being a galactico.

{Ed002's Note - I don't know what you mean by "sponsorship revenue". RM will be interested in Reus and Muller if either becomes available.}

6.) 04 Aug 2015
04 Aug 2015 15:13:26
Really informative and detailed answers- thank you very much!

7.) 05 Aug 2015
05 Aug 2015 05:00:02
Ed would United be interested in benzema and would benzema be interested in United? Thanx

{Ed001's Note - they have shown no signs of an interest in him as of yet. They could easily have asked for him as part of the De Gea deal, but focused entirely on Ramos. So it seems unlikely they will look to him as a signing. I am quite sure he would be interested in joining United if a deal was done between the clubs.}