Gareth Bale must believe that his time at Real Madrid is coming to an end.

The Welsh star is now in his sixth season at the Bernabeu; he’s helped the club win a La Liga title, four Champions League trophies, three World Club Cups and a Copa del Rey. The forward has also managed to bang in 100 goals in 218 appearances for Los Blancos.

Yet even with that glowing CV and the ability to put in match winning performances in the biggest of encounters, the world class talent has never been the darling of the Real support.

It was thought that Bale would leave Madrid last summer. The Welshman came on in the Champions League final and scored a brace to ensure his side beat Liverpool by a 3-1 scoreline.

After the tie a frustrated Bale stated that it might be time to consider a career away from Spain (Source – Evening Standard):

Obviously I need to be playing, I need to be playing week in week out and that hasn’t happened this season for one reason or another,”

“Obviously now I have to sit down in the summer and discuss it with my agent and take it from there.”

“Disappointed not to start the game, thought I deserved it but the manager makes those decisions.”

It was felt that Real’s head coach Zinedine Zidane didn’t fully rate the Welsh international and that star man Cristiano Ronaldo preferred to play alongside Karim Benzema.

In a surprising turn of events, club legend Zidane would leave the giants and Ronaldo would be sold to Italian champions Juventus.

Those two changes meant Bale would stay on at the Bernabeu but it would also heap pressure onto the twenty-nine year old’s shoulders.

Real Madrid as a whole didn’t react well to the significant summer departures. New boss Julen Lopetegui was gone by halloween after just fourteen lacklustre games in charge.

By week twenty-three, Real have managed to get back into the top three but are six points behind league leaders FC Barcelona and have already lost six times in the Spanish top flight!

In the eighteen La Liga games in which he’s appeared this term, Gareth’s scored just six goals and created a mere two assists. He recently grabbed a strike in the derby win over Atletico, proving that he can still turn it on in the bigger games.

The attacker has also scored three European goals in his six Champions League outings.

A big issue is that the fans still haven’t taken to him. They want Ronaldo like stats from the €91m man and he’s not delivered that. A big problem is that the player seems to get injured all too often, when he hits a bit of form a niggle will end up putting him back on the sidelines.

It’s clear Real Madrid need to reinvest in the summer and go out and bring in a talent that can hopefully replace Cristiano. With that in mind, they’ll need to sell and I’d imagine Gareth Bale could be an ideal candidate to move on, given the difficulties that he’s had in Spain.

So where could the superstar forward go? 

Obviously a return to the Premier League will be touted. When he left in 2013 Gareth was one of the league’s top players!

Only a top six club would interest the forward and out of them I can only see two having a strong interest in his signature.

I don’t think former side Tottenham Hotspur will risk blowing their budget or wage structure bringing him back to White Hart Lane. I also don’t believe North London rivals Arsenal have the finances available to launch a bid.

I can’t see the current top two being overly interested in the creative attacker. Bale of 2019 probably won’t interest Pep Guardiola, he’d prefer to stick to the younger options that are currently serving Manchester City well. Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has three fantastic forwards and might feel the inclusion of Bale would upset his squad’s balance and harmony.

That leaves Chelsea and Manchester United.

You’ve got to believe the Chelsea option could be dependent on Eden Hazard’s future. The Belgian maestro has long been linked with a move, ironically, to Real Madrid.

If the current Number Ten were to leave Stamford Bridge, then The Blues will no doubt look to bring in an established superstar-type forward. With Bale’s history in the English top flight and his Champions League heroics, he’d certainly fit the bill.

Could Real use their attacker as a makeweight in any Hazard deal?

Man United are a similar calibre of club to Madrid and that could be tempting for the player.

If Jose Mourinho were still in charge of The Red Devils then I’d say that they would definitely go after Gareth, as he was a known fan of the Cardiff born hero. United have a different philosophy under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who seems to fancy playing hungry, young attackers.

A move to Old Trafford will depend on who the next permanent manager is. 

There are also a few clubs on the continent that might fancy having Gareth Bale in their team.

PSG might be on the lookout for a new wide-man as Neymar continues to be linked with a move back to Spain (From Football365). Bale is the kind of household name that the Ligue 1 champs will always keep an eye on.

Bayern Munich are going to have a rebuilding job in the summer. Arjen Robben has already stated he’ll be leaving the Bundesliga giants in the summer, while Goal.com are reporting that Bayern have still to hold contract talks with veteran Franck Ribery.

Both Milan clubs might step in if interest isn’t firm from other sides. The Serie A sides will be hoping that they can qualify for next season’s Champions League and might believe they can do a deal with Real, if the Spanish team are willing to lower their fee or do a longterm loan deal.

I think it’s going to be a big summer for Gareth Bale. It looks like his time at Real Madrid is running out but a move to another big European club could give the forward a new challenge that he can embrace and prove once again that he can be one of the best players in the world!

Posted on February 16th, 2019 by scott
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