Gareth Bale's Agent Discusses Cristiano Ronaldo, David De Gea, Ballon d'Or, More
Jonathan Barnett, Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale's agent, has claimed the Welshman is now "at the same level" as team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo and has backed his client to eventually go on and win the coveted Ballon d’Or prize.
Barnett was speaking at the Soccerex Global Convention on Monday, per Cristo Martin of AS, where he addressed a lot of the game's topical issues. But most intriguing of all was his assessment of how Bale shapes up against a player many consider to be the best in the world:
"In terms of achievements with the team, there’s (sic) now at the same level.
Cristiano is Cristiano. It’s not a question of competing against him. Nobody can take away what he has done. I don’t know about what tournaments he has won but Gareth isn’t too far behind. What matters most is that the team wins trophies; He could win the Ballon d’Or.
"
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Bale has certainly played his part since moving to Madrid. Although he’s not racked up numbers as impressive as Ronaldo in terms of goals and assists, in his debut campaign the Welshman scored the winning goal against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final and then repeated the trick against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final.
Here’s a look at the career honours the two men have won to this point:
| Champions League | Manchester United (2007-08), Real Madrid (2013-14) | Real Madrid (2013-14) |
| League Title | Manchester United (2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09), Real Madrid (2011-12) | - |
| Club World Cup | Manchester United (2008), Real Madrid (2014) | Real Madrid (2014) |
| European Super Cup | Real Madrid (2014) | Real Madrid (2014) |
| Domestic Cup | Real Madrid (2010-2011, 2013-14) | Real Madrid (2013-14) |
| League Cup | Manchester United (2005-06, 2008-09) | Tottenham Hotspur (2007-08) |
But there’s still a long way for Bale to go before, individually, he is as good as Ronaldo. There may be plenty of time for him to reach those kinds of stratospheric levels in the iconic all-white jersey, though, with Barnett branding rumours about the winger leaving Real as “nonsense,” insisting he would love to retire a Madridista.
“They’re stupid rumours. Gareth Bale is happy at Real Madrid; he’s at the best club in the world and let’s hope that he can remain there for the rest of his career," Barnett said of Bale, who was linked with a £100 million move to Manchester United in the previous window, per Mark Ogden of the Daily Telegraph. "He would love that to happen, and things are going well for him.”
After a tough second season, in which sections of the home crowd often jeered the ex-Tottenham Hotspur star, the midfielder is back to his rampant best in 2015-16, as we can see here per WhoScored.com:
One player who many expected to join Bale at the Santiago Bernabeu this season was David De Gea. The goalkeeper seemed all set to complete a last-minute move from United to Madrid in the summer transfer window, but both clubs ran out of time to get the deal over the line, meaning the Spanish international will remain a Red Devil for now.
Barnett doesn’t think there was anything underhanded about the way the transfer collapsed and that both clubs are ultimately to blame: “It was a disaster, but I don’t think there was any conspiring; it’s more likely that somebody made a silly mistake. The only one who wasn’t at fault at all was the player.”
It’ll be interesting to see how De Gea’s future pans out, but if he does move to Real next summer, he seems set to join a team in which Bale is an increasingly critical part. Manager Rafael Benitez has handed the Welshman has been handed a central role in the side, operating behind Karim Benzema, and early indications are that he seems to be relishing the responsibility.
To get to the same sort of level as Ronaldo and maybe even surpass the Portuguese sensation is an almighty ask for Bale. But if he can preserve the early-season swagger that’s been on show for the rest of the campaign, the 26-year-old will be primed to have just as decisive an impact in 2015-16 as he did in his maiden Madrid season.
