Is José Mourinho Recruiting Gareth Bale to Roma?

Never mind the fact that domestic leagues only closed shop on the '21-’22 season late last month, certain segments of the Roma fanbase are getting restless, taking to social media to vent their frustrations at Roma GM Tiago Pinto's supposed lack of action. However, according to reports out of Spain, Pinto and José Mourinho are preparing to take another big swing on the transfer market.

According to Spanish outlet La Nacional, Mourinho is attempting to woo Gareth Bale to the Eternal City. Bale, who played for Mourinho at Spurs during the 2020-2021 season while on loan from Real Madrid, will see his contract at the Bernabéu expire on June 30th and is poised to enter the free-agent market for the first time in his career.

Once one of the most expensive players in the game, Bale has found success (and playing time) hard to come by over the past several years, logging approximately 2,200 league minutes over the past three seasons. And making matters worse, when Bale was on the pitch he... didn't do much, scoring only 10 league goals for Madrid during his final two full seasons with the club (2018-2020).

While that's fairly typical for a player his age, especially one whose game was predicated on superb athleticism, there is one notable exception to his post-30 decline: the 2020-2021 season with Mourinho at Tottenham. After making only 20 appearances with Real Madrid the prior season, scoring only three goals and adding two assists, Bale sprung back in a major way, scoring 16 goals and providing four assists in 34 appearances in all competitions.

La Nacional didn't speculate on Bale's salary demands, but free from the strictures of transfer fees and with the Growth Decree saving Roma some cash on the backend, this move may not be as absurd as it seems at first blush.

Make no mistake, Roma wouldn't be getting vintage Bale, but as his time with Mourinho proved, Bale can still produce in the right environment.

So, what do we think? Should Roma take a risk on a flashy veteran or might this money be better spent elsewhere?