Agent ‘furious’ as Bale’s Chinese move fell through
GARETH Bale’s agent made an angry promise to Real Madrid that his client would see out the rest of his lucrative contract after Los Blancos bungled his move to China, according to reports in Spain.
The Welshman’s future in the Spanish capital remains uncertain following months of seemingly ugly tension between the player and manager Zinedine Zidane.
Bale has two years left to run on his lucrative contract at the Bernabeu, believed to be worth in excess of £350,000 a week after tax, and his representative Jonathan Barnett has insisted he is happy to see out the rest of his deal.
However, Marca have now reported that Barnett’s steadfastness was borne out of Bale’s botched move to China 12 months ago.
The Spanish outlet report that Bale’s departure is the club’s No.1 priority this summer, given the hefty chunk of the wage bill he is taking up and the sizeable sum he would command in terms of a transfer fee.
But if the Spanish giants are to do so, they will have to overcome the stubbornness of Barnett - who Marca dub ‘the toughest agent in the world’.
Last summer, it is claimed, Barnett was happy to allow Bale to depart for China, having secured an eyewatering £22.5million-a-season deal for the Welshman.
However, the move to Jiangsu Suning broke down because Real asked the Chinese Super League club for a small transfer fee, leaving both Barnett and Bale enraged.
It is that moment Madrid are still feeling the effects of.
So livid was Barnett, he is subsequently said to have told the Los Blancos top brass he will not listen to any more offers for his client due to the awful handling of that transfer.
And that is why the club, the player and his representative are at an impasse.
Bale, who lives in Kaka’s old home in La Finca, has been frozen out by Zinedine Zidane, having not played in any of Real Madrid’s last eight matches.
The Frenchman said Bale asked not travel to Manchester for last week’s Champions League match against Pep Guardiola’s City, but that he wanted to keep the reasons hidden.
It was subsequently reported that the Welshman knew he would not be used in the match and therefore asked, if that was indeed the case, to be left behind.
That has typified the bizarre nature of Bale’s Madrid career over the last few months.
Last month, he was pictured laughing almost in disbelief after Zidane failed to use him in one match against Alaves and even pretended to take a snooze on the bench, using his coronavirus face covering as a makeshift sleeping mask.
In the next match, he once again sparked a big reaction with his antics on the Real Madrid bench.
The Wales star was an unused substitute in the win over Granada but ensured he hit the headlines by making what appeared to be a ‘binoculars’ gesture for the cameras.
After their penultimate game of the season, at home to Villareal, Los Blancos lifted their 34th La Liga trophy, but while Bale was part of the celebrations, it was awkward to say the least.
The scenes of jubilation jarred when the cameras panned to Bale, once a key component of Real’s vaunted front line, felt utterly ostracised from the celebrations.
Barnett, of course, insists his client is happy to stay in Madrid. However, the 31-year-old has been urged by a number of people to move on and resurrect his career.