Why Tottenham Must Say No To This Huge Swap Deal From Real Madrid
A news story that has been doing the rounds lately, is that Real Madrid reportedly pitched a swap deal to Tottenham, where Gareth Bale would return to Spurs in exchange of Harry Kane moving to Madrid.
When Gareth Bale left Tottenham Hotspur ahead of the 2012/13 season, Spurs were devoid of their goal-scoring hit man in the front. Considering the astonishing numbers Bale recorded at the club, it remained to be seen if any player could later hope to live up to the kind of legacy Bale left behind. And then came Harry Kane.
Kane has seen a meteoric rise in his career over the years. He has been a force to be reckoned with from the very beginning, but it feels like he is at his absolute best this season. He is ripping even the toughest of defences apart while scoring goals almost every other day. Under Mauricio Pochettino’s tutelage, Kane has remarkably come a long way.
Widely touted as England’s best striker at the moment, Kane has more years of top-class football to offer since he is only 24-years-old. However, how does he compare to his predecessor Gareth Bale?
After all, Bale was around the same age when he achieved his best at Spurs. Now, at 28 years of age, the player has been plagued with injury concerns. Even when he moved to be a part of Real Madrid’s new age galacticos, people did speculate as to how Bale would fare under Cristiano Ronaldo’s imperial shadow. Bale has managed to carve a niche for himself at Los Blancos, but is he as good as Kane right now?
Let’s take a look at the numbers of both the players, provided by WhoScored.
In the current season, Harry Kane has appeared 12 times for Spurs across all competitions, playing a massive 1046 minutes. He has scored 13 goals and assisted twice, while picking up two yellow cards.
The player averages 6.1 shots per game whereas his pass success is at 71.8%. Kane has won 1.5 aerial duels per game, which is quite good for a striker. Moreover, the Englishman has also received the Man of the Match award 6 times already – out of which two were in Champions League matches.
Gareth Bale, on the other hand, has appeared 6 times for Real Madrid across all competitions so far. He has spent 563 minutes on the field, while scoring 3 goals and providing 3 assists. He has picked up one yellow card, but he averages about 2.9 shots per game. More accurate than Kane, Bale has a pass success of 82.9%. He has won 1.6 aerial duels per game, and has also picked up the Man of the Match award twice – once in a Champions League match.
Arguably, it might be unfair to compare both players, as Kane has been playing day in and day out while Bale is struggling to recover from an injury. However, the truth is that Bale appears to have lost his shine ever since he moved to Spain. Bale was exactly where Kane is right now, but it is quite clear that the move to Real Madrid has halted Bale’s progress.
Had he stayed back with Spurs, things might have been so different. But in the fast-paced world of football, there will always be someone younger and better to take a player’s place – and in this case, it was Harry Kane. Thus, while it might benefit Real to sign Kane in his current form, Tottenham are extremely unlikely to let their prized asset leave in exchange for their previous icon, Gareth Bale.
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