It does not look like Gareth Bale’s loan spell at Tottenham Hotspur has gone according to plan so far, and it’s likely he might be shipped back to Real Madrid at the end of the current season.
When Tottenham agreed to sign Gareth Bale on loan ahead of the current season, excitement was in the air surrounding his highly-anticipated move in London. Spurs fans were happy at the prospect of seeing a talented player like Bale returning to a club where he made a name for himself so that he could rediscover his best form. Four months have passed and this loan stint proved to be anything but that.
It’s reported that Tottenham Hotspur are not taking up the option to purchase the Welsh winger, which means he will be returning to Real Madrid at the end of the season, according to a report from Spanish publication AS. Bale has obviously not lived up to the high expectations so far upon his return to Tottenham.
To date, he has made only 11 appearances this season, scoring 3 goals and assisting once. In all of the 11 appearances, he has accumulated just 594 minutes, without having even completed the full 90 minutes even once. Obviously he hasn’t yet attained the full physical fitness required to endure the grind of an entire game.
The report adds that Real Madrid are actually considering keeping him for the next season in the squad, as the duration of the loan was for just one season, while his current contract with Los Blancos expires in June 2022.
The Los Blancos have shared £13.5 million already for Bale’s wages (with the other £13.5 million being paid by Tottenham), and having him for another season on the ledger would mean stumping out another £27 million of his wages. With the financial crunch that the club is experiencing, having Bale in the team would not make any financial sense.
It does look like he will be offloaded next season if Tottenham do not buy him permanently, which looks the most likely thing. Bale doesn’t look like an attractive prospect anymore and Real Madrid already have players who can offer much more.