Bale likely to finish career at Real, says agent
LONDON: Gareth Bale’s agent says the Real Madrid forward is unlikely to return to the Premier League because he wants to finish his career at the Bernabeu.
Bale is believed to have a difficult relationship with Real manager Zinedine Zidane and was almost sold to Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning last year.
The former Tottenham star has been linked with a move back to the Premier League on several occasions, with Newcastle the latest club to be mentioned as suitors for the Wales international.
But Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett said the 30-year-old would happily remain in Spain.
“He has a very nice lifestyle. I don’t see why he doesn’t see his career out at Madrid, probably,” Barnett told the BBC on Thursday.
“As I’ve always said, he’s quite happy in Madrid. It’s his life that he wants to lead. Financially, he will want for nothing the rest of his life, and his children and grandchildren.”
Bale has won a host of medals, including four Champions League titles, since joining Real for a then world record £85 million ($107 million) in 2013.
But he has rarely been a regular under Zidane and has been criticised by fans and media in Spain for putting more passion into his golf hobby than his Real career.
Despite that discord, Bale has no plans to demand a move, according to Barnett. “I have no idea what his value is,” he said. “His salary is quite high and also where he wants to go is very important in his life. I can’t put a figure on it.
“He’s won nearly everything in the world, except the World Cup, but unfortunately he plays for Wales so some things are beyond him.
“So he’s won everything else, to come back and play (in the Premier League) would be unbelievable, a big thing. I don’t think he wants to do that at the moment. He’s quite happy to play at Real Madrid.”
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid forward Diego Costa has been ordered to pay a fine of 543,000 euros ($608,000) after admitting to defrauding Spanish tax authorities of more than a million euros, judicial sources said Thursday.
Costa, 31, was sentenced to six months in jail, but instead agreed to pay an additional fine of 36,000 euros on top of his initial fine to avoid serving time, as is customary in Spain for prison terms of under two years for nonviolent crimes.
The Spain international was accused of failing to declare payments totalling over 5.15 million euros from his move to Chelsea in 2014.
He also concealed more than one million euros in image rights.
The Spain international last year paid “1.14 million euros, fully repaying his tax debt, interest included”, which facilitated the deal struck with Spanish prosecutors, a court decision seen by AFP read.
Costa, who rejoined Atletico in 2017, appeared in a Madrid court on Thursday wearing a mask due to the coronavirus pandemic, for a short hearing to finalise the agreement with prosecutors.
Spanish tax authorities have pursued a number of top footballers in recent years, including Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Last year, a Spanish court in January handed Portugal captain Ronaldo a suspended twoyear prison sentence for committing tax fraud when he was at Real Madrid.
The player, who joined Italian side Juventus in 2018, also agreed to pay 18.8 million euros in fines and back taxes to settle the case, according to judicial sources.
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi paid a two-millioneuro fine in 2016 in his own tax wrangle and received a 21-month jail term.
The prison sentence was later reduced to a further fine of 252,000 euros, equivalent to 400 euros per day of the original term.