Ozil shirts outsell Bale’s by 5 to 1

 The pressure is mounting on Gareth Bale, the world’s most expensive player. Mind, he hasn’t even kicked a ball for Real Madrid in a competitive match. Yet, the pressure is building.

Already his transfer has left the Madrid fans divided into opposing camps. Many great players including Zinedine Zidane have questioned the fee paid by Madrid, while many even wondered whether Bale was actually needed to improve the current squad.

 

But, what left a bad taste in the mouth was the unjustified expulsion of star midfielder Mesut Ozil, who was sold to Premier League giants Arsenal on the transfer deadline day.

German coach Joachim Loew branded the move “incomprehensible” while current Madrid players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and Isco vented their frustrations after seeing Ozil leave the club.

While Bale’s reception has created such fuss, English press and Arsenal fans have greeted Ozil heartily. And early indications of the popularity of the transfer have been reflected on shirt sales.

According to worldwide sales figures, Ozil’s Arsenal shirts have outsold Bale’s Madrid jersey by 5 to 1.

Leaving aside the debate over Bale’s sporting merits, a large part of any major transfer is often the commercial advantages associated with the signing of the player. Bale was signed partially for his enhanced image rights. However, even those image rights pale in comparison to the sheer joy experienced by Arsenal fans worldwide at signing a superstar like Mesut Ozil.

You can purchase the new Bale 11 or Ozil 11 shirts online today at www.prosoccer.co.za

Gareth Bale joins Real Madrid - Exclusive Interview

This must be a special moment, talk us through how it feels to see your name on the back of a Real Madrid jersey?

Yeah, I think for me it is a dream come true, I followed Real Madrid since I was younger and I'd seen the players they have signed before putting on the shirt at the unveiling and yeah, for me it was an amazing experience one I will never forget.





You have been mentioned over 1M times on Twitter in the last 24 hours. How does it feel to be the most talked about player on social media?

I've got twitter but I haven't been on it in the last few days because obviously I've had to keep low. Yeah it's a bit surreal something I will have to get my head around.

I saw you speaking some Spanish up on the stage, are you going to learn it is it important?


Yes it's something I really want to learn I think it's important to learn the language and I think it shows respect for the country trying to learn the culture and the language. It's not going to be easy especially for me but it's something I am looking forward to and I hope I can learn it as quick as I can and it will help me settle in a lot quicker.

We saw an image during the unveiling of you wearing a Real Madrid jersey as a young boy – what memories of the club do you have from growing up?


I've watch Real Madrid since I was younger, they have always been a stand out team for me and I've always loved the white kit of Real Madrid. It literally is a dream come true I've followed them since I was a kid. They showed a picture on the pitch of me from then which I wasn't too keen to have released, but it's all part and parcel of it, it's obviously great and great to be here.

You will wear specially personalized adidas boots during your first match, can you talk through the personalization's for us?


Yeah they are perfect there are no better boots to be honest I've got my personalisation on there with the flag and stuff they are really light weight so you can run fast in them, for me it's a very good boot these very good traction on there and for me they have help me scored a lot of goals so I obviously love the boot and would recommend it to anybody.

Have you visited the Bernabeu stadium before? When was your first visit and what was the atmosphere like?


It was one of the amazing experience I've had. For me it's the best stadium I've ever been to. When we conceded the first goal against Real Madrid in the champions League the noise and the atmosphere was off the chart. I couldn't even hear myself think so obviously it's great to be here and I can't wait to play my home debut out there. 

Buy the new Bale 11 Real Madrid jersey today on www.prosoccer.co.za