Real Madrid could give Gareth Bale away for free this summer

Several Real Madrid veterans had major bounce-back seasons under Zinedine Zidane in 2019-2020, but Gareth Bale wasn’t one of them.

The 2019-2020 La Liga campaign was undoubtedly a frustrating one for Gareth Bale. His season for Real Madrid started brightly, as he bagged a brace against Villarreal and was the only quality performer in an embarrassing away loss to PSG in September.

However, injuries caught up to Bale, who played sparingly. Zinedine Zidane gave Bale every chance he could, standing by the player amidst intense – and often unfair – criticism from Madridistas. He played Bale in big games and used the Wales international as a starter or substitute, but no role seemed to fit the experienced winger.

By the end of the season, Bale had become a massive liability. He looked rusty on the ball, making poor touches and even worse decisions. He was ineffective on counterattacks and offered no real goal-scoring threat, making himself a downgrade on Rodrygo and even Lucas Vazquez.

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So now, Real are at a point where they need to sell Bale, but his lack of a rebound makes his transfer value non-existent. His onerous salary makes a move to China or England unlikely.

According to a report from MARCA’s Juan Ignacio Garcia-Ochoa, Real Madrid are not “ruling out” giving away Bale for free, since they need to clear out his wages.

While the likes of Tottenham and Manchester United were once linked to Bale, it is impossible to envision either team spending actual money on an older, injury-prone attacking player with expensive wages who is coming off a poor season.

That said, it’s important to note that Bale is still worth taking a gamble on, and a low/free price tag should entice someone desperate, such as Spurs.

Bale still has quality, as evidenced by his assists or key passes in the build-ups to goals by Karim Benzema and Luka Modric this season.

As weird as it sounds for Real to get absolutely nothing financially out of a player they once made the world’s record transfer, that’s not the right way to look at it. Real’s financial gains will come in the wage budget, which will amount to a high transfer fee and clear out space to allow the club to sign an upgrade like, say, Jadon Sancho or Sadio Mane. (Or Kylian Mbappe in 2021.)

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Plus, let’s not forget how much Gareth Bale has given to Real Madrid. He’s a club legend who has had massive moments in Copa del Rey finals and Champions League finals. The end is bitter, but Bale had a wonderful career in Madrid.

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