Former Real Madrid player Michel Salgado believes new signing Gareth Bale still needs tie to adapt to life in the Spanish capital.
The Welshman became the most expensive player in the world when he swapped the lily white of Premier League club for the famous whites of Real Madrid this summer for a reported fee of € 100 million and the former Blackburn Rovers player believes the pressure surrounding the price tag on Bale will have its effects on him but added that he is good enough to overcome that pressure and raise the bar he has set for himself with Spurs.
The Wales international has been limited to a few first team chances for the Madrid giants and his performances for Real Madrid in their 2-1 defeat at the hands of eternal rivals Barcelona last weekend came under immense scrutiny, especially when new Barcelona signing Neymar stole the show for the Catalan giants.
Several Madrid based papers criticized manager Carlo Ancelotti for persevering with Bale while their Catalan counterparts laughed off the club’s latest star signing by calling him irrelevant. But Michel Salgado believes this kind of criticism is harsh on the player.
Salgado, who played ten seasons for Real between 1999 and 2009, stated that the issue is very complicated. He mentioned that Madrid fans cannot expect the player to score more goals for the club than Cristiano Ronaldo because they paid a higher fee for him and categorically stated that it will never happen.
Michel Salgado faced Bale while he played for Rovers and he mentioned he had a tough time against him but he did say that Bale is a quality player, but given time, he will start repaying the huge fee Madrid paid for him and will no doubt become a key player in the future.