Coming into Euro 2020, few players had more to prove on a personal note than Real Madrid right winger Gareth Bale. Given his wages and the necessity for him to take a loan move back to Spurs last summer, Bale is in a situation where he may not have any suitors on the transfer market, meaning he’s expected to stay in Madrid.
Working with Carlo Ancelotti instead of Zinedine Zidane could help Bale, though the Welshman was also in a position to boost his stock to other teams around Europe with a strong tournament.
Now that Wales have been knocked out of the Round of 16, it’s time to evaluate Bale’s Euro performance. How have the Euros impacted his valuation?
Gareth Bale can still be effective
Gareth Bale had four appearances in the Euros, and while he didn’t blow anyone away in three of those matches, he was quite exquisite against Turkey. Now, he benefited greatly from the fact that Turkey were probably the least impressive team in the tournament and were hamstrung by some truly abysmal coaching decisions, but he did make delightful passes throughout the match.
Per WhoScored.com, Bale had five key passes and two assists with a pair of dribbles completed and two additional fouls drawn. Those are great numbers, as Bale was something of a wide playmaker, floating early balls into the box and sending teasing passes behind the Turkish defensive line.
Bale, as we saw this past season at Spurs, is still capable of finding the back of the net. And against Turkey and Italy, he showed he has the veteran know-how to draw fouls and find teammates. His playing style has necessarily changed, but he showed he can remain a quality player in this different role.
Real Madrid will never get the best Gareth Bale back
Despite Gareth Bale’s impressive range of passing and big match against Turkey, we saw throughout the tournament that a true rebound for the 31-year-old is impossible. Any fans holding onto a last shred of hope that Bale can return to being the player he was a few years ago can safely put those aspirations to bed, because it’s not happening.
Aside from a couple of great runs on the end line against a fast-asleep Turkish defense, Bale struggled to beat defenders one-on-one. He averaged fewer than one dribble completed per game when all was said and done, and he was a huge disappointment against the more astute defensive sides than Turkey.
Bale showed he can be a playmaker and make smart plays, as his technique and awareness remain as keen as ever. But the decline physically is not going away, which is the crux of the issue for Real Madrid. What they need on that right-hand side is someone who can create their own shooting chances and take-ons, because a wide forward at Real Madrid needs to be that kind of superstar difference-maker from a scoring standpoint.
Real will have to make do with this different Bale, but a sudden explosion isn’t happening and the same consistency questions will likely follow the player in 2021-2022.
Gareth Bale is more likely to stay at Real Madrid than not
Finally, we come to the discussions about Gareth Bale’s future and transfer value, which is to say that he has no real transfer value and did not increase his value by any significant margin during the Euros.
While Bale likely turned a few heads with his performance against Turkey, evaluators at other clubs will focus more on what he did against superior competition – nothing. Bale failed to force the issue against the majority of teams he faced.
As I said at the beginning, Bale can be effective in the right role, but that role is not worth 30 million euros per year. Bale was always up against it from a transfer value perspective, because it is extremely difficult to be worth that kind of money. That’s top 10 player in the world kind of money, whereas Bale is playing at the level of a high-end squad rotation player, which would, ideally, be his role next season if he were to stay at Real Madrid.
Barring a shock retirement, which appears to be a touchy subject for the Welshman, Bale is going to return to Real Madrid. This Euro performance affirms that Bale isn’t going anywhere, even if a few teams in Europe would theoretically benefit from him when looking at things from a pure footballing perspective.