He came in as a hero. He was hailed as a saviour after the departure of the talisman, Cristiano Ronaldo. He won 14 trophies in the famous white uniform of Real Madrid. And then, he turned the villain. Yes, this is how Gareth Bale’s career with the Galacticos has turned out to be. His relationship with the manager, Zinedine Zidane, has turned absolutely sour, to say the least. To make things worse, his agent has called the France and Real Madrid legend a “Disgrace”, to which the Welshman has not uttered a single word.
So, what does the future hold for the 30 year old winger? Will he be gracing the pitch of Santiago Bernabeu next season? Or will he be donning the shirt of a Chinese Super League club? Though his future is yet to be decided, here are three reasons why Los Blancos do not need Bale anymore in their squad.
- Constant struggle with injuries
Bale’s constant struggle to stay fit has been the biggest drawback that he has faced since his arrival at the club. He missed out on chunks of matches in the last couple of seasons due to injury, which has not helped his cause to stay put at Bernabeu. After all, every manager wants his star players to be fit and raring to go out on the pitch.
As far as the statistics are concerned, the Welsh skipper has played only 42 matches in the 2018/19 season while making 39 appearances in total in the 2017/18 season for Real Madrid. In this scenario, one cannot blame Zidane, who would rather want a fit youngster at his disposal rather than having someone like Bale, who has immense capability, but is unable to put any of it on display due to his injury worries.
- Availability of viable options
With the addition of players like Rodrygo Goes and James Rodriguez, who will be staying at Real Madrid in the next season, Zidane can easily let go of Bale. Despite the fact that Marco Asensio might be out for the rest of the season after picking up a career threatening ACL injury in the friendly against Arsenal in the second match of the International Champions Cup in the USA, the Galacticos are well stacked with viable options to replace the 30 year old Welshman on the right wing. Zidane can even utilise the likes of Brahim Diaz, Isco and Lucas Vazquez, which would bring variety to the Real Madrid attack for sure.
- Arrogant attitude
Remember Bale’s celebration after he scored the match winning goal against Atletico Madrid in the Madrid Derby last season? His arrogance was clearly depicted through that hand gesture that he made on the sidelines. Bale should understand that it is not easy for even a player of his calibre to deliver in every match and he has to take criticism for that, which is very common for any modern day footballer.
However, the way the Welshman and his agent, Jonathan Barnett, have reacted to Zidane’s comments over the player’s future at Real Madrid, should be a detriment in his way to stay put at the Spanish capital in the next term.
