Gareth Bale departure from Real Madrid hit by £30m wage snag

Jo Harrison

Gareth Bale’s exit from Real Madrid looks set to be held up further due to the Spanish giants refusing to pay the the final two years of his salary.

Bale’s £15.1m per year deal means the pay-off would hit a sizable £30.2m. And Real claim they are not willing to do a deal with the Welshman.

Right now, it seems an impasse has been reached. While Spanish outlet Marca suggest Bale’s representatives have set up a meeting, Sportsmail say nothing is in place.

The saga is a long-running one.

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane seems to have lost faith in the player. That is shown by Bale seeing just 100 minutes of action in Real’s final 11 games.

As the friction grew, Bale opted not to travel to the Champions League last-16 leg against Manchester City.

Marca report that Real now want to meet with Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett to test his commitment to the club.

 

However, Barnett is understood not to want to instigate a meeting. He insists the player will see out his contract.

The chances of that could have been improved by James Rodriguez looking set to complete a move to Everton.

 

Giggs in no position to offer further clues

Bale is now on international duty with Wales. But national coach Ryan Giggs says he can’t shed more light on his star winger’s situation.

“I haven’t spoken to Zidane,” said Giggs. “My French and Spanish isn’t too good. That’s my way out of that one.

“I know Zidane’s English isn’t very good from experience. I’m just monitoring the situation. When Gareth gets on camp I will speak to him like I always do.

Gareth Bale TEAMtalk

“I’ve always said to him if he wants to speak then I’ll listen and be more than happy to help him.

“He’s experienced and professional enough to look after himself. But I’m there if he ever needs to speak.”

If Bale does depart, his next move remains open to debate.

Ahead of last season, he was on the verge of a switch to Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning but the move collapsed.

Previous reports have linked him with a return to Tottenham.

However, it appears that no current bids are on the table.