Wenger wary over Gareth Bale hype

[Shola Sholaz]

Comparing Tottenham Hotspur winger Gareth Bale to the world's best players is way over the top, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes.
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Even though the 23-year-old has made huge strides since Wenger first watched him as a teenager at Southampton, the Frenchman says talk of Bale in the same breath as Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo is premature.
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Bale enhanced his reputation with two superb free-kicks as Tottenham beat Lyon 2-1 in the Europa League at White Hart Lane on Thursday and the Wales international has now scored seven goals in his last five matches for club and country.
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But Wenger, who signed Theo Walcott as a 16-year-old from Southampton in 2005 when he might have opted for Bale, said he still had a lot to prove at the highest level.
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"Bale has the potential to develop and become the players that you compare him to," he said.
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"However, Messi has won two or three Champions League, a few championships, scored 95 goals in a year, so let's not go too quick. You are always very quick here, but let's slow down a little bit."
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And Wenger insisted he had no qualms over the decisions he'd made regarding the then academy duo at south coast club Southampton.
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"It was Walcott and Bale, and we were at some stage on (about) taking the two if possible, but we could get Walcott and I am very happy we got him," he said.