Time for Bale to pick up the phone when our clubs call
TRANSFER deadline day came and went, and Gareth Bale remained untroubled. Arsenal bid for a winger, but not Bale. Liverpool, too. Chelsea need goals but Bale was not on their radar. Manchester City wanted a forward, but not him.
They had all got the message. He is happy where he is. Even had they called, he wouldn’t have answered.
For how much longer, though, is harder to say. Bale (right) is 28 and this will be a defining season for him in Spain.
His fitness is increasingly an issue, his place in the Real Madrid team is under serious threat. The notoriously fickle Bernabeu crowd have also been on his back in recent matches.
Understandably, Bale wants to prove he can overcome these struggles. He is at the best club in the world. Why would he want to leave?
It may not be his decision. Marco Asensio, 21 and one of Spain’s brightest young players, is laying claim to a regular place. In the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, suspended, Zinedine Zidane has been playing Asensio and Bale. When Ronaldo returns, Zidane has a decision to make. And there is no doubt who has made the better start. Asensio has four goals to Bale’s one. In the most recent match, at home to Valencia, Asensio scored twice, while Bale’s performance was derided and he was substituted. Bale, of course, loves Madrid and his record there is magnificent. He has won the Champions League on three occasions, plus La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the Club World Cup, two UEFA Super Cups and a Spanish Super Cup. He has scored goals in some of Real Madrid’s greatest games — including a header in La Decima, their 10th European title. He also helped steer Wales to the semifinal of the 2016 European Championship, and may yet get them to the 2018 World Cup. They face Moldova tonight, in what is an increasingly tight group. Bale has transformed Welsh football in a way not even Ryan Giggs could. Increasingly, though, it feels as if the tide is turning at Madrid. Bale has had 17 injury absences during his time there, and has been unavailable for almost half the matches — 47 per cent — during his four years at the club.
Unavoidably, that takes a toll. In his first season, Bale scored 22 goals and was credited with assisting another 19. Last season, that figure dropped to nine goals and five assists, with Bale missing much of the season.
He did not play between November 22 and February 26 or between April 23 and June 3, when he made a 13-minute substitute appearance in the Champions League final.
It was after this that Bale reiterated his determination to remain. Zidane did not sound as sure.
Playing for Wales against Austria on Saturday night, Bale looked off the pace, which could explain the jeers and whistles that met his performance against Valencia, when the home fans sensed a lack of effort. Few would recognise that trait in Bale, but not all criticism is fair.
It can, however, have a lasting effect. The Bernabeu will want to see more of the exciting young Spanish native Asensio, and will not care if Bale is sacrificed.
Equally, as much as Bale may love the lifestyle and the thrill of playing at the pinnacle of club football, he is far too young to be marginalised for long.
Considering that a fit Bale, prolific scorer that he is, could be a deciding factor in the Premier League title race, it is hard to imagine another deadline passing without him at least being required to answer the telephone. And this time, it may make sense to pick up.