Ex-Tottenham star Gareth Bale confirms ‘brand new offer’ as Welsh star tries to buy boyhood club
Gareth Bale has confirmed he and his consortium have submitted a “brand new” bid to purchase Cardiff City as the Welshman looks to gain control of the club he supported as a child.
Bale never actually played for Cardiff, leaving Wales in 1999 to join Southampton’s youth academy, but he is a known Bluebirds fan having been born there.
But having missed out on playing for the club, Bale now wants to own it and is leading a consortium intent on completing a deal with current owner Vincent Tan.
Reports suggested a £40m bid was rejected but Bale has said a new offer is on the table, one which is “more than fair.”
“It’s exciting news. We have a brand-new offer on the table, it’s recently just gone in,” he told Front Office Sports Today.
“We think it’s a great offer. One we think is very fair, if not more than fair, and it’s something we hope the current owners will take seriously.
“We’d love them to accept so we can take full control so we can get on with what we want to do and create Cardiff into a club we know it can be.”
Tan, who has owned the club since May 2010, has not always been the most popular of owners. Two years after he purchased the club, the Malaysian business owner changed the home kit from blue to red, also adding new red seats in their stadium, much to the outrage of the supporters.
The badge was also changed, adding a red dragon, but protests saw them change back to their traditional blue kit in 2015.
The latest black mark on Tan’s record is Cardiff’s relegation to League One as the club finished bottom of the Championship on 44 points.
Despite this, Tan insists he is committed to the club and said in April that he would stay as the Bluebirds try to return to the second division.
“To lose our place in the Championship is upsetting,” Tan said in April.
“The important thing is that we regain it at the earliest opportunity and I would like to take this chance to tell you that I am committed to getting us back.”
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Bale though believes he and his consortium have put in an offer worth considering. Speaking to ESPN, the five-time Champions League winner said he was “looking forward to what the future holds.”
“We are interested in trying to take over Cardiff. We have actually put in a great new offer that we hope we can get feedback,” he said.
“We think it’s a very good offer for where the club is at.
“It’s kind of out of our hands now and we are looking forward to seeing what develops with that.
“Things are exciting and I’m looking forward to what the future holds.”
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