There are millions of reasons why Gareth Bale to Cardiff City seems little more than a romantic dream.
Pound signs, pound signs and more pound signs.
When you have earning power, why not maximise it? There are any manner of Premier League clubs, Serie A teams and Scotland's big two of Celtic and Rangers would love to sign Bale - and pay handsomely to do so.
READ MORE: What the bookies say about Bale's next club
Then there are the other reasons, personal, sentimental and indeed footballing ones, why a sensational move to his home-town club makes eminent sense. There aren't as many of them, admittedly, but in many ways they are far more powerful than the money.
Gareth Bale, the Cardiff City and Wales captain driving the Premier League and World Cup dream. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?
Why not, Gareth?
The chance to come home
You can take the Cardiffian and Welsh icon out of Wales' capital, but you can never take the Cardiff or Wales out of the man.
After so many years away, in Spain, London and Southampton, this is Bale's chance to come home.
For Gareth and his wife Emma to be around those that love them the most. To settle properly in the beautiful property they have bought on the outskirts of Cardiff. Local schools for their youngsters, the chance for Bale himself to do the school run after training.
What is not to like about any of that?
These are precisely the reasons why Craig Bellamy shocked the football world by twice joining Cardiff, first when he was a Manchester City player, then a Liverpool star. Bellamy undoubtedly could have carried on playing with those super clubs, but personal reasons tugged at the soul.
Bale is a very private man, but don't rule out something similar potentially happening with him. What's happened with Covid in recent times, and the isolation we were forced into, has made pretty much everybody reassess priorities.
He's also invested heavily in businesses in the Welsh capital and, whilst they are doubtless expertly run, there's nothing like being close at hand to play a role yourself.
Love of the fans
There is absolutely nowhere else Bale could feasibly go where he would be idolised so much by a club's fan base. And the Welsh media, of course, who often can influence the opinion of supporters.
It would be the exact opposite of the absolute rubbish Bale has had to endure over the past couple of years in Madrid, something which clearly got to him given his angry retort about some needing to 'be ashamed.'
It's not just sections of the Madrid media who have been on Bale's back, he's also had to endure fury at times from Madrid supporters.
Yet here in Wales he continues to be adored. We saw that first-hand with the rapturous ovation he received before, during and after the epic World Cup win over Austria.
Wales is Bale's country, but Cardiff is his home city. These are his people. He could do no wrong in their eyes by joining the Bluebirds. Even below par performances would be offered plenty of latitude just because he's Gareth Bale.
After months and months of strife, being made out to be the villain, wouldn't it be fabulous for Bale to find himself adored day in, day out?
The football reasons make sense, too (believe it or not)
Yes, we know Bale will have his pick of other clubs. Who, other than the real Premier League big guns, wouldn't wish to sign him on a free transfer?
A third spell with Spurs, the Newcastle project, reviving Everton. A glut of mid to lower table teams would love to have him.
Then there are clubs abroad. Germany, America, China. What about Celtic or Rangers?
Most of those make sense. Most could afford Bale.
But, there are a couple of big buts here.
Bale will be 33 in July. Can his body really stand up to the rigours of top flight football week in, week out?
The Championship is hardly a walk in the park; in many ways it's even more gruelling with the Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday relentless grind of matches.
But Bale could manage his appearances with Cardiff, just like Bellamy did with his dodgy knees, and Bluebirds fans would be far more accepting of that than supporters of those other clubs.
If Wales don't edge past Scotland or the Ukraine and reach Qatar, it could well be Bale retires and comes home anyway.
Should Wales get to the World Cup, he will need a sensible amount of game time to get him in tip-top shape for those finals this coming winter.
If Cardiff are playing away to Hull on a Tuesday night, Bluebirds fans - who are also Wales fans, remember - would understand him not being picked for a fixture like that in a way supporters of English, Scottish or foreign teams perhaps wouldn't.
Also, however many games he plays, Bale would find it easier to shine against lesser Championship defenders than he would the Premier League elite.
That's not a cop out. He has been the best British player of his generation, whatever Wayne Rooney backers may think. As such, Bale has absolutely nothing left to prove to anyone.
He shone for Wales from playing next to no football. He could certainly shine from playing Championship football.
The Bluebirds Premier League dream
Given everything he has already achieved in the game, particularly with Real Madrid, the only thing Bale has left to do is play in a World Cup.
Hopefully that happens this November.
But how about tying it in with simultaneously trying to drive his home-town Bluebirds into the top flight, as Bellamy did under Malky Mackay's watch in 2012-13.
Surely, as his home-town team, that's something that would appeal to Bale at this stage of his glittering career more than winning a Scottish League, or trying to get a Premier League side pushing towards a top four spot?
Achieve that and maybe Cardiff Council will erect the Gareth Bale statue to go next to the Gareth Edwards one in the city centre.
Asset to the young guns
As has well been documented, Cardiff have a crop of gifted young players coming through the Academy who will help mould the future of the Wales national team, too.
Isaak Davies and Rubin Colwill are two, but there are others coming up behind as well.
Far from stunting their development by joining, Bale's presence would be a galvanising force for the young guns.
What better role model to look up to close hand in terms of playing ability, professionalism and how to handle himself.
These youngsters would improve by training with and talking to Bale day in, day out. And that would benefit not just Cardiff City, but Wales as well.
By coming on board, Bale could play a big role in the future of our country, too.
It's already his spiritual football home
More than anybody, Bale bought into the Cardiff City Stadium factor.
He used to play at the old Millennium Stadium when a 33,000 crowd meant a half-empty ground.
At the CCS, it's a capacity crowd with a different vibe - often with disappointed fans not able to even get their hands on tickets.
Bale loves the great stadium, the passion and fervour created inside there.
He'll know, and Bellamy would testify to this, that can be replicated by a Cardiff crowd as well as a Welsh one.
Some of Bale's greatest deeds have come at the CCS, including Austria the other night and the winner versus Belgium.
There can be plenty more magic memories there for him - and not just in the play-off final.
Morison's style suits Bale
Under Steve Morison, Cardiff are a million miles from the lump it up team we witnessed under Mick McCarthy, Neil Harris and Neil Warnock.
The Bluebirds these days are moulding a progressive style of play and that would suit Bale down to the ground.
Morison used to be a Wales team-mate of Bale's, they starred together in a famous 4-1 thumping of Norway under Gary Speed at the CCS.
Maybe Morison can use his own persuasive powers.
The problem with the finances
Bale for Cardiff was mooted previously by the bookies, but the reality is it was never going to happen whilst he was on a £350,000 a week wage at Real Madrid.
That ends this June, whatever happens it's time for Bale to look elsewhere.
Cardiff can't compete financially with other clubs, particularly if they are bringing in a £12,000 a week wage cap as Vincent Tan gets to grips with the budget.
As I say, it would be for personal reasons rather than finance that Bale would want to come home.
However, there are still ways and means. A deal over the percentage on sale of replica shirts, which would doubtless hit record figures if Bale 11 was on the back. A promotion bonus, were Bale to take Cardiff into the Premier League.
Wouldn't a major Welsh company want to get on board a project like this and partially fund Bale's wages, in return for having its name associated with the Bale and Bluebirds brands - thus Wales too - and some promotional work?
On the surface Bale to Cardiff seems highly unlikely for someone who could command vast sums elsewhere. Then again, Bale is already a very very rich man and, as we see time and again with Wales, when it comes to football things other than money spur him on.
And finally - Wales, Golf, Madrid
That's the famous saying that has driven so many Real Madrid supporters mad.
But there are actually some damn good golf clubs near Cardiff.
The Vale, for starters. Even better, the Celtic Manor and the opportunity for Bale to try to hone his handicap further at a Ryder Cup course. He's even built a course at his Vale home, which you can see here.
So what are the chances of it actually happening? Quite good, reckon the bookies, who make Spurs and Cardiff favourites to land Bale.
On paper, Tottenham makes more sense. On a human level, coming home to Cardiff is the better option.
No chance, will be the attitude of the cynics.
But then they said that about Robbie Fowler, Craig Bellamy and Harry Wilson as well, and each of those became a Bluebird.
Bale is in a different stratosphere again, of course, but years of covering Welsh football have taught me never to say never.
Strange things do happen, so the old saying goes.
