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Real Madrid: 3 loan deals which have been disappointing so far

By Sai Siddhartha S

Tottenham Hotspur's Welsh striker Gareth Bale gestures during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on December 20, 2020. (Photo by Julian Finney / POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by JULIAN FINNEY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Tottenham Hotspur's Welsh striker Gareth Bale gestures during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on December 20, 2020. (Photo by Julian Finney / POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by JULIAN FINNEY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Real Madrid, Gareth Bale
Real Madrid, Gareth Bale (Photo by JULIAN FINNEY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) /

Real Madrid have nine players on loan at different clubs of four of the top-five leagues in Europe, with Luka Jović and Martin Ødegaard being the latest players to go out on loan. Luka Jović has kicked off his loan stint at Eintracht Frankfurt with a bang by scoring three goals in 76 minutes, while the highly-hyped Ødegaard is yet to play a game for his new club Arsenal.

Seven other loanees left the club in the summer of 2020, and one of them has already swapped clubs in January due to lack of opportunities at his previous club. Some of them have been impressive so far, while few loan deals have been very disappointing. Let us have a look at those disappointing loan deals and analyze what has gone wrong in those cases.

3. Gareth Bale – Tottenham Hotspur

While other loan deals were made to ensure that a young player gets minutes which is vital for their development, this loan deal was made only to get rid of a part of the astronomical wages of a player who lost the motivation to play for Real Madrid. And the fact that this player was the guy who scored a Champions League-winning bicycle kick just before two-and-half years shows how Gareth Bale’s situation has changed with time.

This was an intelligent move from the board, as they sent Bale to the club where he rose to fame and is loved a lot by people. Though Real Madrid is still paying half of Gareth Bale’s wages, they have saved 8.5 million, which is a large amount in these crisis times, by doing so. Bale’s agent had been saying throughout the summer that his client is happy to be at Madrid and is ready to run down his contract without playing a minute, but to see the stubborn agent and client change their minds at the end was truly surprising.

Though the move came as a relief for both the club and the fans, with time people started to worry about Bale. Bale didn’t look like the player they expected to see, and he has been disappointing so far. Though he has scored four goals in 722 minutes (including a penalty), his performances haven’t been convincing enough for Spurs to extend his stay till 2022 or even more.

His fitness problems still exist, and there is a clear physical decline. He arrived at Spurs with a knee injury he suffered in the September international break and missed the first 5 games. He finally made his debut against West Ham. Though he made a great start by scoring a late winner for Spurs against Brighton, he gradually faded away and injuries returned to haunt him. He was even left out from the matchday squad by Jose Mourinho for 2 PL games.

Mourinho knows that Bale isn’t physically ready for the Premer League yet, and he has given him just one start in the League. After a great performance vs. Wycombe Wanderers in the FA Cup, there are signs that he might be slowly improving, but he’s still a disappointment at this point in time. Real Madrid and Jose Mourinho both want him to do better, and the club would pray for him to play well so that they might find a potential buyer for him and get rid of his 17 million wages.

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