According to rumors, Real Madrid has put Gareth Bale up for sale ahead of the January transfer season. The Welshman has not played for the LaLiga giants since August, and his £600,000-per-week contract, which expires at the end of the season, is unlikely to be extended.
After spending the previous season on loan at Tottenham, the winger has not been a regular starter at the Bernabeu, making just three appearances this season.
Bale and Isco
Since joining the Spanish club in 2013, the 32-year-old has won numerous trophies, including four Champions League crowns and two LaLiga triumphs. According to certain sources, after eight trophy-laden years with Madrid, Bale and Isco are the leading possibilities to be sold in January.
Real have reportedly put six players for sale ahead of the transfer window opening, including Mariano Diaz, Luka Jovic, Eden Hazard, and club captain Marcelo, but have prioritized the sales of Bale and Isco.
Isco, a 29-year-old Spain international, has only made seven league appearances this season and is also out of contract in June. Hazard’s problems at the club since his mega-money move from Chelsea in May 2019 have been well-documented.
What about Others
The 30-year-old Belgian has failed to score in 14 appearances this season, and manager Carlo Ancelotti has made it obvious that he is no longer in the first team. Marcelo, 33, has been nearly synonymous with Los Blancos for almost a decade, but he has only played five times for the LaLiga giants this season, totalling 140 minutes after sliding behind Ferland Mendy.
Bale was said to be pondering retiring after next year’s World Cup if Wales qualified for the tournament in Qatar earlier this year. Speaking on the retirement rumors, via the Mirror, he said: ‘For me, it was better not to say anything and concentrate on the job in hand.
‘I never planned to finish. Like I said before, I just wanted to concentrate on the Euros and didn’t want to explain myself. I didn’t feel like I needed to. I still don’t feel like I need to.
‘No matter what I said I was going to do whether I was going to stay, leave, retire, or whatever, I think it would have caused a big and annoying story and a distracting story.’
Read: Gareth Bale feels more comfortable at Real Madrid than before
