A recent profile of Gareth Bale revealed that, on a trip home to Wales, he wore a magnetic earring to wind up his traditionalist father.
So goodness knows what Bale senior made of the boy’s latest look, sported on his return from a long weekend in Marbella — pink T-shirt with matching baseball cap worn the wrong way round.
To be fair to Bale, this is probably the best way to blend in with the Puerto Banus crowd and maybe he just forgot to change on the flight back. But he is the Footballer of the Year and the sooner he dresses for the part the better, even if it’s in the white shirt of Real Madrid rather than Tottenham, who seem already to have spent the 100million they are to receive for him.
Which of the clubs have done the better business remains to be seen. It will be judged in the weeks and months that follow the true start of the season next Tuesday. If the 20 clubs who make up the Premier League have any sense, they will use their next meeting to resolve that all transfers be concluded before the big kick-off next year, leaving other European leagues to make their own decisions.
If the status quo is what they portray as harmonisation, they must be having a laugh. It has brought nothing but a sense that most of our star players will be lovelessly kissing the badge this season. Wayne Rooney would prefer to be apart from Manchester United and Luis Suarez rid of Liverpool, while Leighton Baines and Marouane Fellaini yearn to leave Everton. Only Bale has got what he wants so far and even that relies on the assumption that the Real deal is done.
Good luck to him. We soon forget how lightly some players treat contracts. I just wish we had been spared the leaks of Bale’s “anguish” and even “anger” as Daniel Levy behaved in the interests of Spurs, making the best of an unwanted situation. Those words were no better chosen than the pink ensemble.
