Transfer Grades: Bale, Ozil, Fellaini, Lamela and Sakho

After a busy and exciting summer of movement, it is time to review the major transfers from around Europe. The archive of Grades from across the summer can be found here.

Gareth Bale

Gareth Bale – Spurs to Real Madrid (£85.3m) What’s the deal? Real smash the world record to get Bale, the best player in the Premier League last season. Is the price right? As with anything in this price range, it’s easy to see a high number and roll your eyes about how ‘football has gone mad’, but the truth of it is, Real wanted to buy the best player they could, and with Messi off limits, they went after Bale. Spurs didn’t want to sell, or if they did, they wanted so much as to be able to re-build the team with the treasure. You’ve got to pay more for a one bed flat in central London than a 6 bed house in Yorkshire, because that’s what the market says it is worth. Why sign him? It’s almost entirely because Barcelona signed Neymar, so they couldn’t be seen to be left behind. Football wise, he is an upgrade over Angel Di Maria so it does improve the team, but this was about the show, the statement. Why sell him? Lamela, Eriksen, Chiriches, Soldado, Capoue. Basically. Will it work? Bale has already spoken of being second fiddle to Ronaldo so worries about how the two of them will fare together should be eased. On the counter attack Bale, Ronaldo and Benzema could be almost literally unstoppable at times. He won’t get free kicks though, and if he’s cutting across the field to shoot he might find Ronaldo stood there waiting for the ball. However, they are two of the best players in the world so can surely work out how to play together effectively. Real Madrid Grade: A - They’ve bought one of the best players in the world adding even more pace and power to a team not lacking in those qualities. Spurs Grade: A - Although selling Bale is never a good thing, they were able to buy all those players before selling him, so although the clubs they were buying from knew that they would probably have the money eventually, the fact that they didn’t know for sure meant prices weren’t hiked up.