All about the money. If Levy is willing to sell, either to us or Madrid, then he has an amount in mind. Madrid's trouble is that they hit the media with their world record bids, but often their plans for paying that sum involve dribs and drabs over fairly lengthy periods of time. Don't Madrid still owe Spurs some money for Modric? That was nearly 3 times less than Bale may go for, so how long will Levy have to wait to recoup that money on top of what he is already owed?
If I was Levy, and I accepted I had to sell, then whoever paid the most money up front would be my personal preference. Speculating wildly that Utd make a serious bid of £80m, and we agree to pay £60m up front with the rest in add ons. That at the very least puts pressure on Madrid to have to pay more up front, and far sooner than they would like. So Levy maybe encouraging other bidders just to engineer a scenario to prevent Madrid being able to dictate terms of payment.
If that spanner's the works, Bale may then decide that he would rather come to us than stay at Spurs. Be the transfer window of all transfer windows if we got him after our other recent failed bids, but far more likely to be the biggest, most stand out failed bid of them all! Moyes must have a weird sense of humour to invite such speculation this close to the end of the window if he even has an inkling that we are not totally serious.
If we are in for Bale, then this is surely a scenario where we know what we are expected to pay before we go in, and it's the world transfer fee record. This is fecking big bucks we are talking here, Woodward might be on and all or nothing last gasp effort to pull this one off, and in my view his job should now probably depend on it. Considering the way the other deals have been dealt with - and all failed miserably- it may have him under huge pressure for his job already, especially if we don't sign anyone at all before the window shuts. Imagine how ridiculous he would look having to pay £25m for Fellaini this week, when we could have got him for £18m a month ago? Or not being willing to pay £25m and not signing him because he is now too expensive!
But joining the race for Bale is upping the ante again, what now for Woodward if we spend the last week of the window on this bid for Bale and it fails, and we end up with no-one?
