Forget the howls of injustice, Real Madrid are RIGHT to dump injury-prone misfit Bale
Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has been labeled a “disgrace” for announcing that Gareth Bale is set to leave the club, but the Frenchman is right to dump the injury-prone forward as he undertakes a Bernabeu rebuild.
When asked why he had left Bale out of the squad for Saturday’s friendly defeat to Bayern Munich in Houston, Zidane was brutally blunt in his assessment.
“The club is working on his departure and that’s why he didn’t play,” the Frenchman said.
“We’ll have to see what happens in the coming days. We’ll have to see if it goes through tomorrow, if it does then all the better.
“I have nothing personal against him, but there comes a time where things are done because they must be done,” the Real Madrid boss added.
Bale has been linked with a move back to the Premier League as well as to French giants Paris Saint-Germain in a reported player-plus-cash deal that could involve Neymar going the other way.
If it wasn’t clear for the Welshman before, then it is now: Zidane sees no role for the 30-year-old as he seeks to rebuild after Real’s calamitous campaign last season.
The ruthless jettisoning of a player who has won 13 titles at Real, including four Champions Leagues – providing such spellbinding moments as his overhead kick against Liverpool in the final in 2018 – has been branded “disgraceful” by Bale’s agent.
But beyond the howls of protest and injustice, Zidane is making a calculated decision that he believes will benefit the team.
Bale is on a reported $435,000 a week at Real after tax, and has three years left to run on his current contract.
That’s an awful lot of space to take up on the balance sheet, especially as Real look to bring in even more players for their renewal project, with Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba reportedly still a target.
In new arrival Eden Hazard, Real have signed a winger who can play the role Bale has done for them in recent seasons.
Perhaps ironically, Bale played more minutes for Real last season (2,619 across 42 appearances) than he did in the three campaigns prior to that.
But his goal tally of 14 was his second-lowest in any of his six seasons at the club, and he again endured a stop-start season due to ankle and calf injuries.
He also bore the brunt of fan anger during what was Real’s worst domestic campaign for two decades.
While far from being the only Blancos player to blame, Bale is by far the most unloved by the Bernabeu faithful.
In that respect, the Welshman has also done himself no favors by his failure to get to grips with the Spanish language during his six season in Madrid, while his love of golf has provided easy ammunition for the influential Madrid press.
Somewhat perversely, tales of him shunning social events with teammates in favor of an early night have also not read well.
Rushing to Bale’s defense, social media users have increasingly thrown around statistics highlighting the Welshman’s favorable numbers when compared to Zidane’s own playing record at Real.
Bale has scored twice as many goals in a similar number of games to Zidane, provided almost as many assists, and has won twice as many trophies.
Damn. 😳 pic.twitter.com/4LXXYPhYg9
— B/R Football (@brfootball) July 22, 2019
But stats are one thing and perceptions are another – and Real were only ever going to back a man seen as a club legend over his decision to ditch a player seen as an increasingly peripheral misfit.
Perhaps Bale has been a victim of those stunning moments he has provided down the years at Real – the wonderful, surging solo run in the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona in 2014, that incredible overhead kick against Liverpool in Kiev in 2018.
They have shown frustratingly fleeting glimpses to Real fans of what they all know he is capable of, and what – rightly or wrongly – they expected of him more often when he signed for a then-world record fee of £85 million from Tottenham back in 2013.
Even that famous, match-winning performance against Liverpool was a cameo as a second-half substitute.
While Real were winning European titles, Bale could be accepted as an expensive adornment to the team. But it's clear that he was relied on less and less in big games, his colossal wages not being matched by any sense that he was a senior, trusted member of the team.
Now that Real have an altogether different job on their hands with raising the team from last season's ashes, they cannot afford someone seen as bit-part player on the kind of money Bale is taking home.
Bale himself has professed his committment to the team and desire to stay and fight for his place. But for a club with such a storied history, Real Madrid can be a place bereft of sentiment for those who have served it well – even Cristiano Ronaldo suffered an occasionally prickly relationship with the fan base.
Zidane and Real are undertaking a major rebuild that has seen them part with upwards of $300 million this summer for Hazard as well as young Serbian striker Luka Jovic, Brazilian wonderkid Rodrygo, and defenders Eder Militao and Ferland Mendy.
Is it really any surprise then that a man who is unloved by the fans, does not fit into Zidane’s tactical plans, and who continues to be among the biggest earners at the club is being ushered toward the exit?
Bale now faces big questions over how he spends the remainder of his career. Sitting it out at Real and fighting for his place – or just playing golf – no longer appears to be an option.
He has reportedly had mega-money offers from the Chinese Super League, and could head East for a big final payday; alternatively, he could head elsewhere in Europe, seeking out another top club and proving Zidane and Madrid wrong.
Bale is still a fine player, and arguably deserves a more considerate departure than the one he is getting at Real Madrid.
But while the manner in which it is being conducted might be wrong, the logic behind it makes perfect sense.
By Liam Tyler
Liam Tyler is a writer and editor at RT Sport, covering a range of sports but with a focus on football and MMA.
