(Photo: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports)
Gareth Bale is facing a huge conundrum with his current club, Real Madrid. Club manager Zinedine Zidane apparently wants him out, while club president Florentino Perez is still holding on to him and denies his request for a transfer. Due to this mental uncertainties, Bale has been left out of the squad that will compete in Munich for the Audi Cup.
Zidane has been quite vocal and blunt when it comes to Bale. Following Real Madrid's recent friendly match against Arsenal in the United States, Zidane commented, "I have not disrespected anyone. The club is dealing with his departure. Period."
On the other hand, Bale's agent, Jonathan Barnet have told French publication Le Journal du Dimanche that the indifference between his client and Zidane are purely personal, and it has nothing to do with professional or tactical problems.
Zidane has been open about his intention to offload Bale, along with his annual $16 million salary. Reports claim that Zidane is looking to sign more players as he tries to rebuild Real Madrid's squad. Apparently, he has his eyes towards Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba.
As for Bale, reports claim that he has requested a transfer to Jiangsu Suning on the Chinese Super League. While this might be a win-win situation for both Bale and Zidane, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez step in at the last minute and forced to forego the proposed transfer. This intervention of Mr. Perez apparently had left Bale so furious that he was eventually ruled out of the squad that will compete for the Audi Cup.
Reports claim that Mr. Perez vetoed the transfer as Jiangsu Suning will only pay a nominal transfer fee in order to acquire Bale. The veto came in just 72 hours before the transfer window of the Chinese league came to a close. The Chinese club instead signed Croatian forward Ivan Santini to a four-year deal.
According to people with insider information about Bale's deal with Jiangsu Suning, the Welsh international is set to be paid a hefty $1.25 million weekly salary. That is double of what is he is earning currently with Real Madrid.
Zidane is currently facing huge rotation problems with the long-term injury of Marco Asensio. This simply adds merit to his intention of offloading Bale, who appears disinterested in playing for the club anyway, and instead sign a more reliable player that can fill the holes in his current squad.
