Vincent Tan handed strong Cardiff City sale advice as Gareth Bale eyes takeover - It's "at breaking point" | OneFootball

FLW’s Cardiff City fan pundit believes a change of ownership is necessary for the club to be successful again.

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk‘ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Cardiff City will be making early preparations for life in League One after their relegation from the Championship.

The Bluebirds have returned to the third tier of English football for the first time in 22 years, with the Welsh side’s fate sealed after their draw with West Brom on the penultimate game of the campaign.

In a disastrous turn of events, Cardiff will be tasked with gaining immediate promotion back to the second tier, although it will prove to be difficult with the likes of Huddersfield Town and Rotherham United failing to get straight back up after their relegations in the 2023-24 term.

Inevitable cuts will have to be made after another relegation, while the ownership has been called into question following their latest plunge.

Ex-Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur superstar Gareth Bale has recently been linked with a sensational takeover of the Bluebirds, being part of a consortium that has approached to buy the club.

However, Vincent Tan has reportedly rejected it, but Bale is rumoured to not have been put off by this, with his consortium still interested in negotiating an agreement.

With this in mind, FLW’s Cardiff City fan pundit has issued his thoughts on the latest developments in the Welsh capital.

Vincent Tan urged to rethink Gareth Bale’s takeover proposal for Cardiff City

Speaking to Football League World, Cardiff City fan pundit Matt Hall has pleaded with Vincent Tan to reconsider his original rejection to Gareth Bale’s consortium, believing a takeover needs to happen so they can swiftly return to the Championship.

Hall said: “I won’t be the only Cardiff fan that was absolutely bouncing around the place when I saw the news come through from David Ornstein about Gareth Bale potentially taking over. In terms of new ownership, people would be saying anyone but Tan, but if you were to offer this consortium, then I think it’s as close to the perfect takeover as you could possibly get.

“Gareth Bale would provide assurances that he would put the right structures in place, get the best of the best in place, he’s been at the best of the best clubs and, obviously, you would presume that he wouldn’t associate himself with a consortium that would harm his name, so you would like to think they’d be a pretty good consortium themselves. He's also not short of a bit of money, which always helps.

“I wasn’t expecting the first deal to go through as takeovers rarely go through on the first offer. I would definitely implore Vincent Tan to eventually accept. It’s pretty clear that he wants to be gone. He’s quite distant from the club now, he’s getting on age-wise. His family have implored him to sell the club, and he’s confirmed that himself in interviews.

“I think it’s the perfect way to get out. He’s relegated the club now. We’re in the third tier for the first time in over two decades, so it’s at a breaking point, and I think it’s a perfect time for a reset. You look at Ipswich, Sunderland and Birmingham, they’ve all got out of League One by changing owners and I think we need to do the same thing.

“You would presume it’s a financial thing, hopefully they do get to the bottom of it. There’s also the [Emiliano] Sala [court] case lingering over everything, and the case is probably one of the sticking points. If they can fence that off that any income from that would go straight to Tan and not to the club, and therefore the new consortium, then maybe it could help resolve things, as the strong talk is that he has been waiting for that to leave.

“I’m sure he (Bale) will be back with another offer, and I hope it gets accepted.”

Cardiff City need a takeover to look to a bright future

It’s been a dismal last four seasons in the Championship for Cardiff City, who have been consistently sucked into relegation dogfights.

It was one fight too many last season, with the club now occupying a new low in the third tier.

This has all come under the tenure of Vincent Tan, whose evident lack of care for the club in recent times has been on display due to the Bluebirds’ struggles under multiple regimes.

The Welsh outfit need to bounce back to the second tier as quickly as possible, and the best chance they have is by putting the club in the hands of someone who wants to see the club prosper for many years to come.

Someone like Gareth Bale would be the ideal person to hand it over to, with the Welshman passionate about bringing positive times back to his hometown club as well as providing significant financial resources that can help put the team at a massive advantage over the rest of the third tier field.

Everybody connected with Cardiff will be hopeful this takeover will be sealed, with an agreement imperative so that the Bluebirds faithful can look to the future with both hope and optimism.