It appears as though Gareth Bale's time at Real Madrid is finally coming to an end. The winger has been the subject of intense transfer speculation for the past few years, but his desire to stay in Madrid was always enough to put off potential suitors.
Zinedine Zidane wanted the club to get rid of the Welshman last summer, with Florentino Perez's refusal to do so reportedly one of the reasons the manager walked away from the club. It is likely that he will get his wish this summer.
After another injury hit campaign for Bale, Perez is finally willing to cut ties with the former Spurs man. He has been slowly frozen out of the team by Zidane in the past couple of months, culminating in today's loss to Real Betis in the final game of the season.
Bale had hoped to play at the Santiago Bernabeu one final time before his departure, but he was an unused substitute in the 2-0 defeat.
It appears that Madrid are now so keen to get rid of the player that they are resorting to some desperate measures. The Times are reporting that Madrid are willing to let Bale leave on a free transfer, in order to entice some interest from other clubs.
They are desperate to get rid of his massive £13million salary off the wage bill, and will happily wave a transfer fee should they find someone to take on that massive commitment.
It shows just how far Bale's stock has fallen in recent times, having arrived at Real Madrid for a world record fee less than six years ago. He never seemed an ideal fit at the club, with the fans never really warming to the player.
Despite this, he still made some massive contributions over the years.
A bit sad, really.
Four European Cups, winning goal in two of the finals, a penalty in a third.
Arguably the best European Cup final goal ever. Arguably the best Copa del rey final goal ever too.
And it ends like this.
Cold.— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) May 19, 2019
Manchester United and Tottenham have been mooted as possible destinations, while PSG and Bayern Munich are also believed to be monitoring the situation.
