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The Guardian reports that Gareth Bale has been removed from Tottenham Hotspur's twitter profile. His image has been replaced with that of teammate Moussa Dembele. Whether this is punishment for pushing for a transfer, or a sign he's about to leave Tottenham, or an unlikely marketing move is unclear at this point.
Meanwhile, The Independent has an interesting opinion piece on the art of transfer manipulation and on the frivolity of the transfer market. An excerpt:
What has greater worth in a world of instant gratification, relentless inanity and carefully constructed fantasy: 5,000 newly qualified nurses, 4,500 teachers, 4,200 police constables or a solitary footballer?
It's a trick question, of course. Each is valued at £105 million....
The same newspaper reports that Bale's injury prone summer continues. He'll be missing a preseason friendly - again - because of pain in his glutes.
Over at El Pais, Diego Torres has returned to writing about Real Madrid now the swimming world championships have ended. His contention (as always he claims a source inside the Bernabeu) is that Florentino Perez is the only person left at Madrid who continues to want this high-risk transfer. While some are admirers of the player in a general sense (Zidane, for example) everyone (Zidane included) fails to see what he brings to the team's current dynamic.
He probably isn't missing us - not precisely - but we are still a sore point! A sort of blot on his career. A minor pathology perhaps? Marca writes up the current Chelsea manager's continued fascination with Real Madrid to the point in the wake of his curious press conference yesterday.