Gareth Bale refuses to leave Real Madrid – comfort, greed or lack of ambition?
Despite multiple reported attempts by the club to part ways with Gareth Bale, his agent has maintained that he has no intention to move out of Real Madrid. Which puts the club in a spot and also raises questions on the ambitions of a player who was once deemed a ‘Galactico’.
Much has been said about Gareth Bale’s abilities as a player, when fit, and the glorious moments that he has produced in a Madrid shirt which resulted in many trophies for Los Blancos. At the same time, it is also well established that his stay at Madrid has been rocky and full of hiccups, primarily because of his multiple injuries and the resulting inconsistency in form.
He has still not assimilated fully with the dressing room and has not shouldered any leadership responsibilities that a senior player should have done.
Fallout with Zidane
In the 2016/17 season, Zinedine Zidane said that the ‘BBC – Bale, Benzema and Cristiano’ are his first-choice starters not because of any favoritism, but because they are simply the best. Zidane gave Bale all the time and the freedom in the world, but he soon realized that he could not rely on Bale. He was out with injury for almost half a season, starting with an ankle injury against Sporting Lisbon.
His rushed return from injury led to another injury in the middle of a Clasico, and it cost Madrid that match and almost La Liga too. You could see then on Zidane’s face that Bale had lost favor with him. Isco was chosen ahead of him for the rest of the season and even started the Champions League Final, despite the match being played in Bale’s home country. The inconsistency continued in the 2017/18 season as well, and the already tentative relationship between Zidane and Bale was fractured further.
Think Zidane might have a better relationship with Materazzi than Bale
— Aalap Trivedi (@Aalap_Trivedi) May 19, 2019
If you have seen the last season since Zidane took over, it’s clear as day that Gareth Bale just does not figure in his scheme of things anymore. And he could not have made it more evident. Even Perez can’t help his golden boy anymore, he has already come to his aid far too many times. Bale’s last chance to prove himself worthy of his wage & reputation was when Ronaldo left. He did nothing of the sort in either goal scoring or leadership on & off the pitch. In fact, he went further into his shell. Therefore, the argument that Bale wants to stay and fight for his place holds no water any more. The club and the coach want him gone.