MLS: Be careful with speedy, old and oft-injured Gareth Bale

Gareth Bale has said that he would welcome a move to MLS. However, as a speedy, ageing, and oft-injured winger who would not come cheap, clubs must be careful to invest.

It has not been the most successful period at Real Madrid for Gareth Bale. The Welshman destroyed the Premier League in a sensational run of form for Tottenham Hotspur before signing with Madrid in 2013 in a then world-record deal.

Bar brief moments here and there, including an overhead kick in a Champions League final, Bale’s time in the Spanish capital has been marred by injury and controversy. It was only last year that, while on duty with Wales, he held up a celebratory banner reading, “Wales. Gold. Madrid. In that order.”

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Bale has fallen out with the club, Zinedine Zidane, and large portions of the fanbase. Now 30, it seems inevitable that he will leave the club soon, though his extortionate wages are a major stumbling block for any team looking to bring him in. In fact, Bale almost moved to China last summer such was the difficulty for European clubs to afford. The deal, however, fell through at the final stage.

This week, Bale opened up the possibility of a switch to Major League Soccer. He spoke of his admiration for the league, conceding that he would be interested in a move across the pond.

“I really like the league,” Bale told The Hat-Trick podcast. “It’s grown so much over the years. When we come over and play now in pre-season, the games are difficult. The standard is a lot better. All the clubs are improving, the facilities are improving, the stadiums are improving.

“It’s a league that’s on the up and still rising, and I think a lot more players want to come over to America now to play. I’d definitely be interested in it. I love going to Los Angeles on holiday.”

Admittedly, his concession that he loves ‘going to Los Angeles on holiday’ is not the most encouraging sign for a club sinking huge wages into what they would hope is an elite-level match-winner. Nevertheless, that he would be willing to make the move to MLS should alert any team. Bale is a special player.

There is a major warning that clubs must heed, however. While Bale has been elite at the highest level and would immediately arrive in MLS as one of the most dangerous attacking players in the league, his game revolves around his frightening speed, especially over long distances. With tremendous physicality and power, Bale surges forward, with and without the ball, at phenomenal pace which is simply too much for defenders to handle. He has destroyed some of the best full-backs in world football because of his searing pace.

But as he enters his thirties and increasingly tests the physical limits of his body, the injuries have struck, his availability has been questioned, and his pace has slowed. Bale is still extremely fast over long distances, but he does not blow by defenders like he used to.

Over the past four seasons, Bale has missed 309 days due to injuries. Across the days, it equates to 65 games missed, which is more than an entire season. All in all, he has suffered 17 separate injuries, many of them muscular ones in the calf, adductor or thigh area. His body is breaking down.

And so, while signing one of the best players in world football over the past decade sounds like a fascinating, enthralling prospect, in reality, serious warning signs come with Gareth Bale.