Why Gareth Bale Must Stay at Tottenham This Summer to Fulfill His Potential

It seems the media just won't let the Gareth Bale speculation rest. With every passing day, more reports are produced linking him with Barcelona or Real Madrid.

Here are Bale's latest comments on the constant speculation:

"

If you are talking about Barcelona or Real Madrid, two of the biggest clubs in the world, then it's a bit like Harry and England, it's a once-in-a-lifetime dream.

If you said to any young player that you could play for Barcelona or Real would they turn it down? Probably not.

If a bid was accepted you would obviously have to seriously consider it. But that has not happened so, at the moment, I'm just concentrating on Tottenham.

"

These comments have kicked the world football rumor mill into overdrive, but in truth, there's little that's unusual about them.

Bale is right in stating that a move to Barcelona or Real Madrid would be a dream for any player, and right in stating that, like any other player in the world, he'd have to consider a move to Barca or Real if it was on the table.

However, there are a number of reasons why a move away from Tottenham right now is not in Gareth Bale's best interest.

First, a look at both Real Madrid and Barcelona's starting lineup reveals that neither team really has space for Gareth Bale.

At Real Madrid, the offense is stacked with the best attacking options in the world. At left-wing, Madrid have Cristiano Ronaldo, and at left-back, Madrid have Fabio Coentrao and Marcelo.

Bale has been poor on the right flank for Tottenham this season, but even if he could play well there, Real Madrid already have Angel Di Maria and Jose Callejon in that position, and Benzema has proven an effective right-wing option this season as well.

That's not mentioning utility player Hamit Altintop, who has played as a right-winger for Madrid on a couple occasions. Clearly, Real Madrid's offense is very deep already and loaded with quality.

Barcelona are less stacked on offense, but the space problem still arises for Bale. For the two wing positions alongside Lionel Messi, Barcelona are expected to have at least David Villa, Alexis Sanchez, Pedro, Ibrahim Afellay, Cristian Tello, Isaac Cuenca and occasionally Cesc Fabregas and Andres Iniesta as options next season.

Clearly, they are not in need of another winger. What they do need is a left-back, which is a position Bale has not played in for some time now. In fact, it's been more than two seasons since Bale last featured for Tottenham as a left-back.

Furthermore, he's reportedly not even likely to be Barca's first choice, as Valencia's Jordi Alba is Spanish, more suited to Barca's style of football and likely to be significantly cheaper than Bale.

Secondly, even if Gareth Bale could somehow fit into the already super-congested squads of either Barca or Real, his development as a player would be seriously hindered.

At Tottenham, Harry Redknapp has given Bale the freedom to explore the limits of his game by allowing him to frequently leave his flank and attack down the middle.

Though this experimentation hasn't always proved beneficial for Tottenham, it's helped Bale get better as a player and helped him understand what he can and can't do on the pitch. Additionally, it's allowed him to become Tottenham's brightest star.

At Real Madrid or Barcelona, Bale would have to seriously adjust his game to two philosophies that differ radically from the football philosophy preached at Tottenham.

At Madrid, Jose Mourinho plays a very disciplined game where players are expected to stick to their positions, help out on defense and pounce on the counter-attack whenever possible.

Bale's pace would help him excel on the counter-attack with Madrid, but the additional defensive responsibilities would likely limit his creativity on the pitch, as would the duty of staying out wide on either flank.

At Barca, Pep Guardiola's "ticki-taka" philosophy would require less defensive discipline from Bale, but it emphasizes continuous and repetitive passing, something Bale has never been known for.

This season, Bale has averaged around 40 passes per game, which is decent, but considerably lower than Dani Alves (77), Lionel Messi (65), Fabregas (64) or Iniesta (60).

Bale would be forced to make fewer defense splitting runs and make more short passes, which would take away from what makes him such a dynamic player.

Finally, the last reason it makes sense for Bale to stay at Tottenham is that he is still very young (only 22 years old), and young players have a history of making rough transitions to life at Real Madrid and Barcelona.

For Real Madrid, the list of big stars who've failed because they moved too soon is seemingly endless. Just looking at the last couple of years, Sergio Canales, Nuri Sahin, Royston Drenthe have all suffered to varying degrees because they did not take longer to develop their game before moving to the Spanish capital.

For Barcelona, the list is also pretty long. Recently, the likes of Martin Caceres, Keirrison and Henrique have all had their careers hurt by their respective early moves to Barcelona.

At only 22 years old, Bale has a long, healthy career ahead of him. At Tottenham, he's the biggest star on a team of stars; he's surrounded by guys like Luka Modric, Emmanuel Adebayor and Rafael van der Vaart, yet he still manages to shine brighter than any of them.

He's got everything any 22-year-old footballer could ever want or hope to have at such an early stage of their career. Even Champions League football is likely to return to Tottenham next season, despite Spurs' poor form in recent games.

A move to Barcelona or Real Madrid can only hurt Bale right now. He'll become, at best, a rotation player, find his creativity limited in one or more ways and find his progress as a player interrupted by having to adjust to a new culture, spending time on the bench and more.

For now, Tottenham provides Bale with everything he needs to grow as a player. He's got a top quality team to play with and a manager who allows him a massive amount of freedom, and he'll likely be playing against the best teams in the world next season in the Champions League.

In one or two more years, Bale will be approaching the peak of his game, and one of the La Liga giants will likely be in need of new blood on offense.

Then the time will be right for Bale to make his move and play with the best in the world. If he's patient, he could one day be a contender for FIFA World Player of the Year.