Gareth Bale future becomes clearer, while odds on Frenkie de Jong staying at Barcelona are slashed

Paul Okey
24 June 2022

With the summer transfer window hotting up, Planet Sport looks at the latest market movers, including a couple of highly sought after La Liga stars.

It would have been some coup if Cardiff City had managed to persuade Gareth Bale to swap Madrid for the Championship, and for so much of the summer it had looked like they were going to pull it off.

Out of contract at Real Madrid, Bale has no shortage of suitors. However, since the market opened on his next move, the Bluebirds have headed it, with the pull of a return to his hometown believed to be the defining factor behind a drop to the second tier of English football.

Bale spoke to Cardiff manager Steve Morison on Wednesday, with his agent Jonathan Barnett revealing that "what Gareth does next is not about money".

Nevertheless, after being on £554,000 a week at the Bernabeu, the prospect of a significant pay cut to play for the Welsh side looks to have cooled talk of a deal being concluded.

It's certainly the case if the bookies are to be believed, with a switch to the MLS now favourite for Bale at 4/6. Cardiff appear to be his only other option, but have drifted out to 11/10, with a third spell at Tottenham now out to 25s.

The @CardiffDevils co-owner @brian_bparker is doing his best to get Gareth Bale to come to Cardiff 😂 🏒 pic.twitter.com/57AVgF2U39
— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) June 23, 2022

There's also been movement in the betting market for another player Tottenham have been linked with in the close-season.

Spurs had thought to have been willing to offer Steven Bergwijn as part of a deal to sign Ajax's Brazilian winger Antony and started the week as 4/1 second favourites to land him in the window.

However, support for Manchester United has hardened with Erik ten Hag's side into 1/4 from 4/9 to reunite the 22-year-old with the new Red Devils boss.

But while Ten Hag looks set to get his wish on Antony, it appears his capture of Frenkie De Jong is not as clearcut as it seemed.

United were 1/4 to complete a move at the beginning of the week but progress on the deal appears to have stalled. And, although United still remain firm favourites to land the Dutch midfielder this window at 1/3, the odds on him remaining at Barcelona have been cut from 5/1 to 7/2.