Gareth Bale: How can Spain afford €100m for him?

It was recently announced that Real Madrid have purchased Gareth Bale for an astounding €100m – beating their previous record of a smadge under €94 for Cristiano Ronaldo.

So… how can Spain, in its current financial mess, afford this astronomic amount? Well, in my humble opinion it can’t. But let’s get it straight – this isn’t Spain, it’s Real Madrid. Yes, Real Madrid – one of the most successful football teams in the world. At the end of the day, it is a business – a commercial venture – they’re in it to make money. If they can afford to buy him… and know what benefit Bale can bring to their games – then why the hell not?

Scenario: An organisation wants to increase their sales… so they bring in a new salesperson. That salesperson already has a strong track record of achievement, and also is extremely likely to work well with the existing sales team in order to make the organisation more successful. That makes good business sense, and hey – sometimes you need to speculate to accumulate. This does not mean that this company has an obligation to provide housing, welfare, debt recovery etc etc to the community that surrounds it – that is down to the government. Nobody would slate the company for hiring this person, would they?

That is exactly what is being done in some of the Press right now. It is not Real Madrid’s responsibility to sort out Spain. Let’s remember that the government has a job to do, and they’re failing. To be fair, the €100m wouldn’t make much of a dent in Spain’s current debt anyway.

Maybe it’s just me… but I think it’s pretty simple.

It’s ok… you can relax now – I’m not going to start talking seriously about Spanish football… I’m a girl. As you were…

Elle Draper

Elle, along with Alan, is the owner of Spain Buddy and the busy web design business – Spain Web Design by Gandy-Draper.
Born a “Norverner”, she then spent most of her life “Dann Saff” before moving to Spain in 2006. Elle’s loves are Alan, the internet, dogs, good food, and dry white wine – although not necessarily in that order.