Transfer News: Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte prefers Gareth Bale over Eden Hazard
Speaking on El Chiringuito (h/t Express), OkDiario chief Eduardo Inda inferred that Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte would prefer Gareth Bale over Eden Hazard as he eyes a Real Madrid star with injury concerns.
It is believed that the Italian manager has alerted Daniel Levy against signing the former Chelsea star. The former Inter Milan manager would rather have the Welsh international at N-17.
Conte has worked with the former Lille winger during his time with the Blues. He would thus have a better understanding of how the Belgium winger would suit his style and system. Bale and Hazard have been struggling to make a mark in the last couple of seasons.
The 32-year-old forward rose to fame in his first stint with the Lilywhites where he played an instrumental part in helping the North London club win the EFL Cup back in 2008 and even returned for a spell under Jose Mourinho. The Welsh forward has scored 106 goals and provided 68 assists in 254 matches across all competitions for Los Blancos.
He was a great part of the feared attacking trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Gareth Bale, the BBC, during their heyday when they terrorized opposition defences at will. The 32-year-old Real Madrid player has gone down the pecking order as well as he struggles for gametime now.
Inda spoke about Conte and how he would be averse to bringing Hazard to Spurs. The Italian manager believes that the 30-year-old would struggle to adapt to his system at Tottenham:
“Daniel Levy would like to take a Real Madrid player who is always injured. He wanted to sign Eden Hazard, but Conte has told him ‘no’ because he knows him from when he trained at Chelsea and says that he has little intensity and that he is not a very hard worker. The most striking thing is the player that Conte has asked Levy to take him to London. He is Gareth Bale. Bale ends his contract at the end of the season, but in winter he would not be free.”
The former Chelsea star has struggled at Santiago Bernabeu even since making the switch. He has managed to score only 5 goals and record 9 assists in 54 matches across all competitions for the Spanish giants.
Bringing a former Blues player to N-17 could also cause a great commotion amongst the fans if he fails to live up to his potential. Bale, on the other hand, is a living legend at Spurs and could be received well in comparison to his fellow Madrid teammate.
That being said, the Welsh international struggled a bit in his second stint at Spurs under Jose Mourinho scoring only 13 goals across all competitions but did show flashes of brilliance towards the second half of the season.
More Tottenham Hotspur News
- Antonio Conte believes his salary at Tottenham Hotspur is justified
- Lucas Moura has revealed that Mousa Dembele is the one who he misses the most at Tottenham Hotspur
- Tottenham Hotspur target Dusan Vlahovic to stay at ACF Fiorentina in January amidst Arsenal interest
Any transfer for either of these players is highly speculatory at the moment. With age and lack of consistency a great factor, the attacking duo doesn’t seem of much use to either Madrid or Spurs in the long run.
