The reasons why Inter Miami didn’t sign Gareth Bale
The David Beckham-owned team decided not to pursue Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale because the franchise has a salary cap.
Inter Miami had the first option to sign Gareth Bale after they included him in their Discovery List to obtain the rights of the player. The team owned by David Beckham decided not to sign the Welsh international and Bale ended up joining LAFC on a free transfer.
The Los Angeles-based team signed Gareth Bale on a 12-month contract using Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) and they have the option to extend his stay through the 2024 MLS campaign. LAFC acquired the discovery priority to Bale from Inter Miami CF in exchange for $75,000 in 2023 General Allocation Money (GAM).
Why Bale didn’t join Inter Miami
“At this moment in time, I feel as if we’re still in that foundation, building block phase. And there will be times when we add the cherries and the icings on the cake…As much as it’s, yes, great on paper and all that business, we felt from a roster point of view, it’s not what we need at this moment in time,” Inter Miami’s head coach Phil Neville explained to reporters.
“[Bale] would enhance any football team, but we have a cap at this football club, we have a certain level of player that we think will improve us in certain areas. Good luck to Gareth in LAFC. I’m glad we don’t have to play them again. They are ahead of us in terms of what they’re building, but we’ll catch them.”
Having said that, Phil Neville also said that they have been scouting talent and Inter Miami should bring in some players during the transfer window. The team owned by David Beckham brought in French striker Corentin Jean from RC Lens and they are expecting more young players to be added to the roster.
“We are developing a real, real top-level recruitment department,” Neville added. “You look at the players that we’ve brought in this year, players that probably not many people have heard of, but players that are on our radar, players that we feel fit the characteristics of what we want. Which is hungry. We really want hungry players.”
“When I first spoke to him, he desperately wanted to come to Inter Miami, and that for a player that’s playing in a real top league in Europe, at the age that he is, is a really good sign. We’re not getting someone that’s gone over the hill. We’re getting someone that’s still just halfway up the hill really wanting to improve,” Neville said of the 26-year-old.
“His versatility is really important…He can play left and right wing. He can play No. 10, center forward. And he’s played a lot of his football at wingback for his team, and you know I like going to wingbacks as well. So he fits into what we’re trying to do.”