The worlds most expensive footballer is being outstripped by five to one.
Real Madrid ace Gareth Bale is in line for more criticism after a leading online football retailer revealed that he is being crushed by five to one in shirt sales by Arsenal new-boy Mesut Ozil.
The Spanish giants have already been chided for spending a world record £86 million to sign Bale from Tottenham and then allowing Ozil to join the Gunners for around half of that fee on transfer deadline day, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos indicating their anger at the club.
Germany coach Joachim Low also described Madrid’s thought process as ‘incomprehensible’, adding to the storm brewing in the aftermath of Bale’s arrival at the Bernabeu. And it’s unlikely to ease up any time soon after UKSoccershop.com let slip that Ozil is currently proving a more popular seller than the 24-year-old
“While it would be untrue to say there is not an interest in Bale shirts, our sales data shows he is being significantly outsold by Mesut Ozil and is not attracting the same level of attention generated by Neymar when he transferred to Barcelona earlier in the summer,” managing director Simon Pretswell explained to the Daily Mail.
“Bale’s talents as a footballer are undoubted, but he has never been one of our bestselling Premiership players, with supporters preferring the likes of Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Steven Gerrard and even Fernando Torres.”
With the pressure already mounting on Bale, he will hope to prove why Real made him the most expensive footballer on the planet when he makes his debut against Villarreal next weekend. Hopefully, he’ll start better on the pitch than he has done in the shirt sales market.
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