Bale could be leaving Madrid for China
ZINEDINE Zidane’s attempts to force Gareth Bale out of Real Madrid reached a head at the weekend in Houston with the player’s agent now trying to fix a move to China before the end of the month.
“He has not been called up because I think the club is trying to work out his departure,” said Zidane after Real Madrid lost their first pre-season friendly 3-1 to Bayern Munich.
Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett later said: “We have found this deal; it’s nothing to do with the club.”
The deal in question appears to be with a club from the China Super League.
Shanghai Shenhua, Jiangsu Suning and Beijing Guoan have all been suggested as possible destinations for Bale if he decides to head to Asia just days after his 30th birthday.
The potential problem for Real Madrid is that any deal with a Chinese club is unlikely to generate much of a transfer fee.
Chinese law means any clubs who pay a transfer fee to foreign clubs must pay the same amount in tax to the state.
The clubs mentioned are apparently willing to match, or even improve on, Bale’s net salary, but would want the player almost on a free transfer.
Real Madrid could still accept a low-cost departure if only to save themselves the three years salary they would have to pay Bale if he sees out his contract until 2022.
Other options are limited by big European clubs’ reluctance to invest heavily in a player who is already 30.
Staying at Real Madrid cannot be completely eliminated from Bale’s set of options but Zidane would have to leave the club for it to be anything more than a short-term option.