Toni Kroos has frankly admitted that Gareth Bale’s situation at Real Madrid is ‘unsatisfactory’ for everyone at Los Blancos.
Bale, having been sidelined by Zinedine Zidane since he returned to the club and after being benched for six games consecutively, was dropped completely from Real Madrid’s final La Liga game of the season. Last summer Zidane had even made a public admission insisting that Bale leaving the club would be the best for everyone, only for Real Madrid chiefs to pull the plug on his switch to China as they were insisting for a fee.
Kroos and Real Madrid are in celebration mode, celebrating their first La Liga title in three years, but the German midfielder conceded Bale’s issues at the club were a problem for everyone.
‘The reality is that this situation is an unsatisfactory one for everyone, Bale wasn’t signed to play as little as he is doing right now,’ Kroos said speaking on the Lauschangriff Podcast.
‘I think he originally wanted to leave last summer and the club said yes, but then changed their mind.
‘I don’t know if he’s still a little pissed off about that, I really don’t, but the truth is that it’s a difficult subject.’
Having been repeatedly snubbed by Zidane, Bale recently drew attention to himself for fooling around the bench and was criticized. He had even been seen pretending to be asleep at times in the stands during matchplay.
Zidane, gracious as ever, had to deny the forward was a distraction for his team-mates and Kroos insisted Bale hasn’t stirred any trouble within the squad.
‘Everything is fine in the team, we don’t give these things too much importance, Bale has also helped us win a lot in the last six years,’ Kroos said.
‘On a day-to-day basis he doesn’t give us problems and we show respect for what he gave to Real Madrid.’
Bale’s exit from Real Madrid is complicated by his exorbitant salary and the 31-year-old’s agent has already dismissed talk of an exit this summer. Zidane has clearly cast doubt over his future, but Real Madrid’s is not over yet with a Champions League decider against Manchester City next month.
It is unclear if Bale will be included in the squad that will take on City, with Real trailing 2-1 after the first leg.