What you could buy for a Bale

The British footballing press have been circling like sharks over one transfer story this summer: Gareth Bale and his increasingly likely move to Real Madrid.

Noises coming out of the internet suggest that a final price has been penciled onto the transfer documents - a staggering £105,000,000.

Given the unwieldy number of zeros, we felt inclined to break down what you could buy for a Bale in footballing terms.

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NINE LUKAS PODOLSKIS

Arsenal purchased the German forward in 2012 for a sum believed to be in the region of £10.9 million. One Bale equates to nine Podolskis. In fact, one Bale costs nearly as much as Arsenal's entire starting eleven.

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SEVEN ANDY CARROLLS

Could Bale take Carroll's crown as the most expensive British footballer? At the reduced price of £15 million that West Ham picked him up for, Real Madrid could have seven of their own ponytailed forwards.

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FOUR (AND THREE QUARTER) VAN PERSIES

Van Persie was an invaluable addition to Manchester United's squad last season, contributing 26 goals to their Premier League winning campaign. While the Dutchman is considerably older than Bale, you'd have a pretty handy front line if you could afford four of him.

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THREE EDEN HAZARDS

The young Belgian had an impressive first season with Chelsea, having been purchased from Lille. Real Madrid could have picked up three of him for one Bale.

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TWO KAKÁS

Okay, so you could only buy 1.9 Kakás for a Bale - so a Kaká without his shinpads. No other Brazilian has scored as many goals in the Champions League.

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TWO FERNANDO TORRESES

It took a few months for Fernando Torres to look worthy of his £50 million price tag, but the Spaniard has produced some vital goals since joining Chelsea. Still, we actually think we'd rather have one Bale than two Torreses.

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THE ETIHAD STADIUM

Well nearly. Manchester City paid Laing Construction £112 million to build their new stadium - and what's £7 million between friends?

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So, will he go? Are Spurs mad to cash in, or is it shrewd business? Let us know in the comments below.

(Footballer's images: Allstar; Etihad Stadium: Rex)