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Football: Gareth Bale Move to China!

By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw Speculation surrounding the future of the Welsh national player and Real Madrid forward, Gareth Bale, has ended with the 30-year-old set to move to China in a lucrative deal. He reportedly will join the Chinese Super League club, Jiangsu Suning, Nanjing, for three years at a salary of £1 million a week. This move will make him the highest paid footballer in the world. Despite the money, in sporting terms, this is viewed as something of a demotion for the player, whose departure from Real Madrid has been described by the manager, Zinedine Zidane, as “beneficial for all parties.” The transfer to the Chinese club will also be an expensive one, given that Bale has three years left to run on his contract with Real Madrid. Bale joined the Spanish club from Tottenham in 2013 for, at the time, a wold record transfer fee of £85 million. Although China is investing mega sums in the development and promotion of football, as much, it seems, for political as for sporting reasons, Bale’s salary is, considered in some quarters, as being quite obscene. Indeed, is anybody worth such an amount of money, however talented? Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw may be contacted by e-mail at ‘This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.



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