Xavi admits he hasn’t even seen the Madrid target play 90 minutes.
The latest man to wade into the hype surrounding Real Madrid’s proposed world record bid for Tottenham Hotspur’s Gareth Bale, is Barcelona star Xavi.
The midfielder knows a thing or too about world-class players having played with a few at the Nou Camp, but has aimed an underhand comment on Madrid’s supposed £90m offer for Bale.
“I don’t know if Bale is worth what he’s worth,” the 33-year-old was quoted in the Sun.
“Sincerely, I haven’t seen him play a full 90 minutes.”
With so much talk about the Spurs winger’s capabilities it comes across as quite dismissive of Xavi to reveal the Spaniard has never even seen the 24-year-old play a full match.
Of course both Barca and Madrid have a fierce rivalry in Spain and it is common place for players, managers and directors from either side to comment on the other’s transfer dealings.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho – who managed Los Blancos for three years before returning to Stamford Bridge this summer – was involved in a war of words with both Xavi and team mate Andres Iniesta.
If Bale does make the move to the Spanish capital then the Welshman will have to have a thick skin to deal with the animosity from Catalonia – perhaps taking a leaf out of Cristiano Ronaldo’s book, with the Portugal captain having made a similar switch four years ago.
It’s clear from Xavi’s comments that the midfielder is among a group of critics that clearly think Madrid are foolish to spend so much on Bale; or perhaps is simply trying to undermine the transfer to harm the Spain international’s rivals.
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