£150 million for Gareth Bale must be the most ludicrous transfer rumour in many a year

Gareth Bale is very good. In fact, he’s very, very good. But is he £150 million good? We’re not so sure.

According to the Sunday Mirror this morning, that’s the price that Spurs are putting on his head in an attempt to deflect interest from some of the biggest clubs in Europe, including Real Madrid and today’s opponents, Manchester City.

Obviously using the Super Sunday clash between City and Spurs to generate a quite ridiculous rumour involving both clubs, the Mirror’s back page leads with the ‘exclusive’ story that City have made “discreet enquiries” to the North London club about Bale, who they want to add to the galaxy of stars already at the Etihad Stadium.

The enquiries were obviously not discreet enough to go unnoticed by the eagle-eyed hacks at the Mirror, however, who claim that the only way that City will get their hands on the Welsh wizard is by coughing up a sum never before heard of in professional football.

To put that fee into some sort of perspective, it is almost double the current world record for a transfer fee – the £80 million Real Madrid paid to prise Cristiano Ronaldo away from Manchester United in 2009 – or about three times the amount the Spanish giants paid for Zinedine Zidane in 2001.

Then again, it adds up to about three Fernando Torres or five Andy Carrolls, so maybe the Spuds are justified in seeking such a gigantic sum for his services.

Bale is contracted to Tottenham until 2015 and although there have been reports that his contract includes a £50 million buy-out clause, his representatives, The Stellar Group, have denied that this is the case.

In a cruel twist of irony for mega-rich City, the Mirror also claim that they had the chance to sign Bale for a mere £4 million in 2009 when he wasn’t much more than a struggling left back, but the then City manager Mark Hughes wasn’t interested.

Oh well, you win some, you lose some.