Gareth Bale believes he can be at the forefront of a football revolution in China should he complete his impending move to Jiangsu Suning.
While the deal, which is worth around £1m per week to the Real Madrid forward, is being finalised, a key motivation for the Welshman is the chance to effect fundamental change in the game, rather as David Beckham energised the game in the United States with his move to MLS.
The 30-year-old believes he has achieved everything in European football, having claimed four Champions Leagues, one La Liga, one Copa del Rey, three Uefa Super Cups and three Club World Cups in six years at Real. He scored three times in the Champions League final triumphs, and six times in six Club World Cup matches, the second highest tally, behind Cristiano Ronaldo. When at Tottenham Hotspur Bale was twice voted the PFA Player of the Year. He is Wales’ highest scorer with 31 goals in 77 appearances.
The transfer window in China closes on 31 July so there are four days left for Bale to complete the move to the Nanjing-based club, who stand sixth in the Chinese Super League and have a squad that includes the Brazil defender Miranda, who is 34, and the latter’s compatriot, Alex Teixeira, a 29-year-old former Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder.
Bale is poised to leave Real since Zinedine Zidane made it clear he was not wanted after relations between the Welshman and the head coach broke down. Bale featured as a substitute as Real suffered a humiliating 7-3 defeat by their city rivals, Atlético Madrid, in Friday’s pre-season friendly in New Jersey.
While Bale came off the bench for the last half-hour, Zidane admitted the defeat “hurt”, Diego Costa having scored four goals before being sent off on 65 minutes along with Real’s Dani Carvajal in what was an ill-tempered game.
“I’m not concerned, but I’m hurt,” said Zidane. “You don’t play to lose. But we can’t be looking backwards. It was a bad game and now we have to focus on what went wrong, so we can try and make sure it doesn’t happen again in the next match. We don’t need to dwell on it. This is a pre-season game. They were better in every respect and that’s all there is to it.
“We can’t be pleased with this defeat, that much is clear. We just really lacked the intensity you need at this level. But I’m convinced I’ve got a team here that is going to compete at the top level. We’ll be motivated and hungry to keep going, I have no doubt about it. I’m convinced we’re going to have a good season.
“This won’t change what we’re looking to achieve this season. The players are not letting me down, we’re just preparing for the new season and we have to remain calm. We have to be ready for when La Liga comes around.”
Diego Simeone, the Atlético head coach, told the club’s website: “We prepared the game knowing it was a derby. We played well and I told the lads. The players are very excited. The goal is to arrive at the first La Liga match in the best possible shape.”
João Félix, Ángel Correa and Vitolo scored the other goals for Atlético while Nacho, Karim Benzema and Javier Hernández Carrera registered Real’s consolation goals.
