5 Reasons why Gareth Bale will find it difficult to follow in the footsteps of Christiano Ronaldo at Madrid

With the transfer saga of the summer having reached a rather predictable conclusion, here's five reasons why Gareth Bale won't be so special at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Price tag pressure

The main reason why Christiano Ronaldo has been such a huge success at the Spanish capital is because he hasn't been burdened by the expectations attached to being the most expensive player on the planet. 

 

This is in no small part due to the fact that by the time he was completing his world-record transfer from Man United in 2009, he was already a world superstar and a brand, which Real fully exploited to recoup- within a matter of weeks- almost all the amount they paid the red devils for his services.

The problem with Bale, however, is that he doesn't carry the same star-billing and would therefore have to justify most of his transfer fees on the pitch.

Tensions with teammates

Gareth Bale will arguably not command the same respect from his teammates that his Portuguese counterpart did on arrival.

No Madrid player has any qualms about what Ronaldo earns or all the attention he receives.

General consensus is that he is top dog. 

This respect might however not be afforded to the Welshman, with recent murmurings inside the Madrid camp suggesting that he isn’t an upgrade on Ozil.

Christiano Ronaldo’s shadow

For any player to make the transition from being a really good player to a legendary player, not only must he be afforded more freedom and responsibility but he must also be made to feel like the star man of the team.

Unfortunately for the welsh winger, Los Blancos already have that man in Ronaldo, and it will take a very brave man to bet for Bale usurping Christiano as the main man of the team, let alone matching his statistics in front of goal. 

He might have cost more, but will sure play second fiddle to the Portugal captain. 

The Spanish press

With the eye-watering transfer fees involved comes intense scrutiny from the Spanish media.

Not many people are convinced that Bale is actually worth 86 million pounds, and this will put his every performance for the nine-time European champions under the microscope.

Put simply, the Spanish media will hound the football life out of him. 

Settling down

Before he can fully focus on his football career at Madrid, Bale will need to settle down first and learn the language and the culture.

Unlike Ronaldo who, apart from knowing Spanish, had a number of his international teammates in the Spanish capital, the young man from Wales is very much on his own in the Spanish league. 

Not to say that he won't hit the ground running, just that he might need more time and patience before he becomes the player we have come to expect.