Courtesy: Fox Sports
The Real Madrid winger plans to retire from the sport after the European Championships draw to an end. Bale is currently a Real Madrid player but is out of favour at the Spanish club. Even the appointment of Carlo Ancelotti as the new manager will not change Bale’s mind. The Welshman enjoyed his best moments under Ancelotti at Real Madrid.
Bale was sent out on loan to Tottenham Hotspur last season in the Premier League. His performances at the club were a mixed bag of results and he couldn’t establish himself as a starter under Spurs manager Jose Mourinho. Spurs has decided to not make the move permanent and hence Bale has returned back to his home club Real Madrid. Bale is among the highest-paid players in the Madrid squad and Madrid paid a portion of his wages when he was on loan at Spurs. His potential exit could save up to 22 million Euros in yearly wages for Madrid.
💣💣💣 Bale medita la retirada después de la Eurocopa https://t.co/toSZtkeRQj Informa @jfelixdiaz
— MARCA (@marca) June 4, 2021
This was Gareth Bale’s second stint at Spurs where he had spent his early career playing as a fullback before eventually being moved upwards on the pitch as a winger at Madrid. Madrid paid €100.8 million as a transfer fee to Spurs which was a world record transfer fee at the time surpassing that of the €94 million which Madrid had paid for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009.
The Welsh winger has been criticized by fans and media alike for perceived low-quality performances in several matches for Real Madrid in the latter half of his career at the La Liga giants. He had a falling out with Zinedine Zidane who was Madrid’s manager at the time and Bale’s playing time at the club eventually decreased. He was loaned out to Spurs for the 2020/21 Premier League season.
In his second stint at Tottenham, Bale scored 16 goals and racked up 3 assists in 34 appearances for the club.