Gareth Bale would not get a game at Arsenal, Jack Wilshere claims
Gareth Bale ‘wouldn’t get a game for Arsenal’ and would ‘hold back their young players’ if he joined, claims Jack Wilshere in damning verdict on star’s decline as he weighs up shock free transfer to Championship side Cardiff
- Gareth Bale has been linked with a host of clubs after his Real Madrid departure
- But Jack Wilshere does not want him at Arsenal, saying he may stunt progress
- The former midfielder claims the forward would not ‘get a game’ at the Emirates
- Bale has spoken to Cardiff City over a move and also visited their training ground
Jack Wilshere has claimed that Gareth Bale would not ‘get a game’ at Arsenal, and believes the veteran free agent would even hold back their young players.
Bale is currently without a club after his departure from Real Madrid at the end of the season, although he has held talks with Cardiff and visited their training ground.
A number of other teams have been linked with him, but Wilshere, a former midfielder at the Emirates, says the 32-year-old would be down the pecking order.
Gareth Bale would not break into Arsenal’s side if he joined, Jack Wilshere has claimed
Quizzed on whether he would like Bale to join the club, Wilshere told talkSPORT: ‘No.
‘I look at the players who would be playing in that position and they’re young players who have arguably been Arsenal’s best players over the last few years.
‘So one, I don’t think he gets a game. And if he does, I think he’d be holding one of those players back.’
Arsenal already have the likes of Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Nicolas Pepe that can play out wide, while they are also keen on signing Raphinha from Leeds.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Wilshere also said the veteran would stunt the progress of young stars
That may see Bale forced to settle for a switch elsewhere, with Cardiff in contention.
Bale spoke to Cardiff manager Steve Morison on Wednesday amid the Championship club’s ambitious attempt to sign the Wales superstar.
Bale attended Wales’ Vale of Glamorgan base, which they share with Cardiff, to receive treatment from his national team’s medical staff.
While there, Bale spoke with Morison.
Asked on whether a move to the Welsh side was realistic, Bale said: ‘I can’t really say.
‘I haven’t really thought too much about that. I don’t really know if the standard makes too much of a difference.
‘A football game is a football game. I feel like I’ll never really lose my quality on the ball. I guess it’s a conversation to be had.
Wales ace Bale is a free agent after leaving Real Madrid, but could move back to his homeland
He has held talks with Cardiff and visited their training ground (above: Bale pictured in 2020)
‘I need to make sure I’m playing games and I’m as fit as possible, it’s going to be massively important.
‘Coming into this camp now, I wasn’t fit at all. I didn’t have much game time at all. Sometimes I’m able to get away with it.
‘Ideally I want to go into a World Cup playing games and being able to be as fit as I can for as long as I can.’
Cardiff are Bale’s hometown club and his parents have a home in the Welsh capital.
Their bid to land Bale is being led by chairman Mehmet Dalman and talks have now been held with the player and his representatives.
However, despite the optimism that a deal can be done, sources were playing down the significance of Wednesday’s meeting — Bale and Morison are former international team-mates, while Cardiff and Wales are sharing the same facilities.
Nothing has yet been agreed regarding Bale’s next destination and a number of options remain on the table for the five-times Champions League-winning forward.
Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett revealed in an earlier interview that ‘what Gareth does next is not about money’, while Wales manager Robert Page said the idea of his captain joining Cardiff ‘ticks all the boxes’ and ‘makes a lot of sense’.
Bale himself said that the quality of a prospective side was not necessarily paramount to his decision-making process, but he was more interested in playing regular football ahead of spear-heading his side’s World Cup campaign in Qatar.
But any move to the Welsh side would certainly require the player to take a massive pay cut from his Real salary, where the player was reportedly earning £554,000-per-week.
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