Where frustrated Bale goes next is far from clear
We have been here before, but this time it is different.
Gareth Bale has had mixed seasons, certainly frustrating seasons, during his up-and-down time with Real Madrid – but this year is not like those. There has barely been an up, and Madrid increasingly feel like their record signing has let them down.
Now in his fifth season playing for the Bernabeu club, Bale happily counts his trophies. He has achieved everything he dreamed of when he moved to the biggest football club in the world except, perhaps, the
individual goal of winning the Ballon d’Or. A trio of Champions Leagues will suffice as a consolation prize, you’d imagine, and despite his struggles in adapting and staying fit, it has quite clearly been a successful move for both parties.
But the end is coming, and senior figures at the Bernabeu are now privately admitting that they are ready to let Bale leave the club this off-season.
This was true last summer too but this year the determination to move on is stronger, and has filtered down to the Madrid press to the extent that, on Thursday morning, the message was the major talking point across a number of club-friendly titles.
On Wednesday night, Zinedine Zidane’s response to his brief, uninspiring appearance against Leganes was a classic ‘subtle knife’ from the calmest, most measured coach among Europe’s elite: “Well…. He played his game,” Zidane said.
Which has kind of become the problem.
Bale on form is a tall, strapping athlete who has speed, strength, elite finishing with head or foot and can create. He is a formidable, fearsome opponent but increasingly his cameos see him perform in a way that appears to not be integrated into the team in any way.
It is difficult to blame his lack of Spanish, still an issue five years after arriving, because of the success he has enjoyed when it was even more no bueno. But where we are now, Bale is essentially a moderately effective loose cannon operating outside the structure of a team that hasn’t been that good this season anyway.
There was a time when Bale was to be Cristiano Ronaldo’s perfect foil and then heir, while Neymar was his Barcelona counterpart. The Brazilian’s consistently brilliant performances elevated him to a different level while Ronaldo’s continued production meant the succession plan never came to pass. Bale has been limited to a complementary role and will depart having never become the central figure he was lined up to be.