Connect with us

La Liga

STANDOFF AS GARETH BALE REFUSES TO LEAVE MADRID DESPITE STRAINED RELATIONSHIP WITH ZIDANE

Published

on

Gareth Bale refuses to leave Real Madrid this summer and is prepared to wait up to two years for his next club match if necessary.

According to Mirror, Bale’s relationship with Real boss Zinedine Zidane hit a new low last week when the Welshman was omitted from their squad to play Manchester City

Bale was available to play but refused to travel for the Champions League defeat at City as he knew he would not get picked.

He faces a bleak future at the Bernabeu as he didn’t feature for Real in any of their previous seven games either.

The Spaniards’ former president Ramon Calderon has suggested a loan move away is the only compromise after claiming Bale is “wasting his time”.

Advertisement

But sources close to Bale continue to insist he has no plans to leave the Spanish capital where he is under contract until 2022.

He is settled in a family home with three children and the golf-mad ace gets out regularly on the nearby fairways.

His mega contract is worth over £600,000-a-week which makes any potential loan expensive for Premier League clubs to afford, even if Real subsidise part of his salary.

His previous appearance was on June 24 as Bale made just his 12th La Liga start en route to the team’s latest title.

Bale’s behaviour as an unused sub on the bench in their subsequent games was heavily criticised.

Advertisement

In the 2-0 win over Alaves, Bale was seen wearing his face mask over his eyes while reclining in his seat.

He looked similarly disinterested days later during the 2-1 victory over Granada, at one point using a roll of wrist tape as a telescope while up in the stands.

The star was also a peripheral figure in Real’s title celebrations with the La Liga trophy.

But he is arguably Britain’s most successful export after four Champions Leagues since joining from Spurs in 2013 for a world-record £86million.

He is now standing his ground in Spain after a proposed free transfer to Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning on a three-year deal worth £1m-a-week was aborted by Real a year ago.

Advertisement

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

Continue Reading
Advertisement