Let’s sign Gareth Bale

I know. But what I'm saying is most of those fans won't go out their way to buy a shirt just to have bale on the back would they, but wouldn't buy one because he doesn't play for us? I bet the majority are buying a shirt anyway regardless of who plays for the club.
Shirt sales do spike every time there's a big signing. It'd be interesting to see figures, but I'd assume we sell more shirts in a season when we make a big name signing compared to a quiet transfer window.

However as I asked above, it really depends how much we make per shirt and how much goes to Adidas.
 
£50 a shirt, obviously we'll sell one to every single one of our 650m fans. That's £32.5bn. It's just maths, don't question it.

It is crazy, reality is we wouldn't even sell to a 10th of the fans, but if we did, £3.25bn is insane.

Would be interesting to know just how many shirts we do sell. We have the biggest fan base so statistically we have better odds of getting the numbers up. Although in China and India it's probably a lot of fake shirts or cut price!
The retailer gets about 40%, various tax rates will take up to 20%, Adidas will get 30%, we get some cut of the remaining 10%.
 
Adidas must have the best deal in history if they're investing £75m a season for 3.25bn in return.
Apparently the Adidas CEO projected they would earn £1.5 billion over the course of our 10 year £750 million deal.
 
Shirt sales do spike every time there's a big signing. It'd be interesting to see figures, but I'd assume we sell more shirts in a season when we make a big name signing compared to a quiet transfer window.

However as I asked above, it really depends how much we make per shirt and how much goes to Adidas.

Why do you say they spike then say it’d be interesting to see the figures?

They actually don’t spike, the figure is fairly static. Clubs don’t really sell that many shirts compared to what people think.

We get the £75m and then less than 1% of sales after a certain, rather large, number.

The sales myth won’t die, however, as evidenced by this thread people just won’t accept it and will make all sorts of contrived arguments to defend their opinion.
 
Why do you say they spike then say it’d be interesting to see the figures?

They actually don’t spike, the figure is fairly static. Clubs don’t really sell that many shirts compared to what people think.

We get the £75m and then less than 1% of sales after a certain, rather large, number.

The sales myth won’t die, however, as evidenced by this thread people just won’t accept it and will make all sorts of contrived arguments to defend their opinion.
I meant sales spike immediately after signing a player (e.g. Woodward saying Sanchez's signing broke shirt sale records) but it would be interested to see how that influences sales over the course of the club's financial year. As you say, that immediate spike after a signing probably equates to a similar number of shirt sales over the course of all financial year/season, which is all that matters from a financial point of view.
 
I meant sales spike immediately after signing a player (e.g. Woodward saying Sanchez's signing broke shirt sale records) but it would be interested to see how that influences sales over the course of the club's financial year. As you say, that immediate spike after a signing probably equates to a similar number of shirt sales over the course of all financial year/season, which is all that matters from a financial point of view.

I also think people over estimate the numbers involved but also forget that what people are really buying is the name on the back as opposed to the shirt itself.

When Zlatan was signed how many fans bought his shirt rather than Darmian, Blind, Smalling, etc. Probably all of them.
 
If Mahrez is going for £75m I don't think paying 100 for Bale is way off the mark.

It is surely well over the mark, given his age and fitness record combined with his astronomical wages, contract length and standing in the squad. If they manage to recoup what they paid for him they will have done well to find a complete fool to do business with. To be in for Bale is understandable, but we should be going into negotiations fully prepared to walk away if the price isn’t very, very reasonable. The onus is on Madrid to sell. We gave Rooney away for free to be rid of his idiotically massive contract.

I hope the will we/won’t we on Gareth Bale doesn’t drag on much longer.
It’s so painfully obvious that the two FB positions need addressing along with at least two midfielders. The longer this one goes on, the more I fear us starting with Young and Valencia again next season.[/QUOTE

The right wing is the position in most urgent need of addressing though. We do not have one player for whom that role is natural and the area of the pitch they excel in. Any issues Valencia had last season were greatly exacerbated by a lack of support in front of him. Left back should be relatively straightforward to upgrade - bring in a competent left footer - but Young faired far better in that position than Mata and Lingard did on the right side of attack (along with the couple of others who were fleetingly tried there). Similarly in midfield, Matic and Pogba are high quality players and Herrera in midfield is a level above anyone stationed out on the right.
 
It is surely well over the mark, given his age and fitness record combined with his astronomical wages, contract length and standing in the squad. If they manage to recoup what they paid for him they will have done well to find a complete fool to do business with. To be in for Bale is understandable, but we should be going into negotiations fully prepared to walk away if the price isn’t very, very reasonable. The onus is on Madrid to sell. We gave Rooney away for free to be rid of his idiotically massive contract.



The right wing is the position in most urgent need of addressing though. We do not have one player for whom that role is natural and the area of the pitch they excel in. Any issues Valencia had last season were greatly exacerbated by a lack of support in front of him. Left back should be relatively straightforward to upgrade - bring in a competent left footer - but Young faired far better in that position than Mata and Lingard did on the right side of attack (along with the couple of others who were fleetingly tried there). Similarly in midfield, Matic and Pogba are high quality players and Herrera in midfield is a level above anyone stationed out on the right.

Disagree. Full backs have so much of the ball and we create so little because of the pair of them. Mata, Lingard (or one of our left wingers) would do so much better with good attacking full backs.
 
Why do you say they spike then say it’d be interesting to see the figures?

They actually don’t spike, the figure is fairly static. Clubs don’t really sell that many shirts compared to what people think.

We get the £75m and then less than 1% of sales after a certain, rather large, number.

The sales myth won’t die, however, as evidenced by this thread people just won’t accept it and will make all sorts of contrived arguments to defend their opinion.

I think you misunderstood what he's saying.

There's no myth that shirt sales stil increase when you sign a top class player. That's a fact.

The myth is around the breakdown of revenue.
 
£50 a shirt, obviously we'll sell one to every single one of our 650m fans. That's £32.5bn. It's just maths, don't question it.

It is crazy, reality is we wouldn't even sell to a 10th of the fans, but if we did, £3.25bn is insane.

Would be interesting to know just how many shirts we do sell. We have the biggest fan base so statistically we have better odds of getting the numbers up. Although in China and India it's probably a lot of fake shirts or cut price!
Hehe.

Does anyone seriously think we have 650m fans?
 
I didn't mean to open a can of worms with the jersey sales statement, and derail the thread. My point was that Bale is a huge signing which will further generate more fans, and thus more money. I know, as most of us do by now, that the amount of money we make from jersey sales is miniscule. But if we sell more jerseys, sign more marketable (adidas) players, and win a trophy or three, we are bound for an even better deal in the future. Both with adidas, the Chevy spot, and arm sponsor. Even with the training jerseys.

Anyway, I would love for us to sign Bale. Exciting, brilliant, british player. I would also like us to sign Griezmann, Mahrez, Pulisic or Dembele. But of those players, Bale actually seem to be the most getable.
 
Okay then, I change my statement to most realistic, then. I do think you understood my point, though.
 
Disagree. Full backs have so much of the ball and we create so little because of the pair of them. Mata, Lingard (or one of our left wingers) would do so much better with good attacking full backs.

I think a good attacking, left footed left back would make a big difference. We are a left-sided team, our players gravitate to that half. There are plenty of options for the full back to dovetail with and play off, and we could do with purchasing a player who will look to run the flank and take the opportunities to overlap. Especially if Sanchez is going to play left wing consistently as opposed to Martial or Rashford, who hold their width more. Young just isn’t capable of that, which is why I see it as a straightforward area to improve. For me, in terms of priorities I would have this second.

Right back is different. The lopsided way the team plays leaves Valencia isolated. The ball is constantly switched out to him in a relatively deep, wide position - he may be in space, but opposition full backs are in position and wide midfielders shuttle across to close down that space. Folk expect too much. Outside of the kind of full backs that will go down in the history of the game as top players, good attackers in this position are typically all about overlaps and third man runs. They rely on having advanced players in good areas to play off of. Realistically, we are not going to find a Marcelo or a Dani Alves, so without something changing ahead of the right back that position will remain ineffective. A new right winger doesn’t have to hug the touch line, but they do have to maintain a sensible position for the sake of balance and shape in attack. Mata and Lingard have been far too ill-disciplined with their movement - they drift too far across the pitch and leave Valencia with no options. Correct this and Valencia will be useful going forward (although still not the most adventurous). Again especially with Sanchez coming inside and towards the ball from the left, we need whoever is playing on the right to play in the appropriate spaces or our attacking play will not improve.
 
I think you misunderstood what he's saying.

There's no myth that shirt sales stil increase when you sign a top class player. That's a fact.

The myth is around the breakdown of revenue.

Yeah but what I’m saying is the relative figures are small. When Sanchez signed we sold a lot of Sanchez tops that week - record levels for the timeframe - but only in comparison to existing figures. It doesn’t then increase the overall sales per annum to any degree.

There aren’t a million people with £70 lying around going nuts because Alexis signed for Utd.

I take the point though.
 
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Little side track, but does anyone think if we'd signed bale when he was still a left back that he'd still have turned out to be the same world class winger he is now
 
Little side track, but does anyone think if we'd signed bale when he was still a left back that he'd still have turned out to be the same world class winger he is now
Why not? Weren't we managed by SAF at the time? Pretty decent manager wasn't he?
 
€100m seems reasonable, tbh. Crazy money of course, but in this crazy market, it will actually surprise me if we manage to get him for that.

Also, €12m net, isn't that about the same salary as Pogba? He'll surely ask for a raise, but it doesn't seem as crazy as some make it out to be.
 
We've seen what he can do when he's fit. The man's a monster.

If there is a chance he may be available, get him. He can win games on his own.
 
My only slight concern is that it would be the third or fourth season since say Fergie went, where we have effectively confirmed that we are going for a player we didnt necessarily intend or expect to. You have to be flexible in the transfer market, and I completely feel that if a top player is available then get them because they could very well improve another team, and Bale would definitely improve most teams.....

I would be fine with him or without him, depends who moves from the existing team really. In theory Bale, Sanchez, Lukaku as a front three is fantastic with Matic, Pogba, Fred behind and we are looking at something special, but its not always quite as simple as that.
 
Injuries are of course a concern but there is not a single player on the planet that looks remotely attainable that would improve us as much as him.

Asssuming Sanchez finds his form again, wed actually have a very good attack.
 
If we get Bale we can't shaft Martial off another number again, can we? Bale 11 just makes sense, but that would just be so shit on Tony.
 
The reality of this potentially happening is it actually could be an absolutely key signing for us along the lines of Van Persie, IF we manage to land Bale and he stays fit and captures his very best form then its going to be a very significant signing indeed!
 
We've seen what he can do when he's fit. The man's a monster.

If there is a chance he may be available, get him. He can win games on his own.
Yeah, it's a risk but a risk I'd support because potentially he'd be our second best player in this century after Ronaldo. His position and role exists in our current team as well and is in need of an upgrade.
 
Maybe this is the reason why we seem to be moving on from Toby and the links with Sandro at 50m have died.
 
Would the shirt sales and advertising rights for Bale cover the cost of the transfer? Didn't we make an insane amount back on the Pogba and Zlatan deals?
 
£100m for Bale who is turning 29 next month seems steep especially considering his history of injuries.
 
Hope this doesn't impact our other transfers too much. Sandro and Alderweireld (less so) are still pretty important, I feel.
If we get Bale we can't shaft Martial off another number again, can we? Bale 11 just makes sense, but that would just be so shit on Tony.
He'd probably get 10. Though, if he asked for 11, I doubt Martial would be bothered about moving from 11 to 10 anyway.
 
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LB is definitely critical. After that we can make do if needed.