Gareth Bale Leaving Real Madrid For Manchester United? His Agent Says No

Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett dismissed speculation suggesting his client will be made available for transfer when the summer transfer window opens with the Spanish capital club looking to get him off their books.

The Welshman joined La Liga giants in 2013 for a fee of £86 million ($122 million), which was then a world-record for a transfer, from Tottenham Hotspur. He was a regular in the starting lineup in his first four years and played a key role in helping Real to their tenth Champions League title in 2014.

The Spanish giants won two more European titles in 2016 and 2017 with Bale being an integral part of the side. The 2017/18 season, however, saw him displaced from the team with manager Zinedine Zidane preferring Isco ahead of the Welsh international.

Bale made 21 appearances in La Liga scoring 11 goals, but he made just two appearances in the Champions League this season. He was benched by the manager for their round of 16 games against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and their quarter-final first leg against Juventus on April 3.

The former Spurs forward struggled with injury this season, which limited his game time, but his falling down the pecking order led the media to speculate Real could be ready to offload the Welshman, who is contracted to the club until the summer of 2022, in the summer. Bale’s agent, however, made it clear that both the club and the player are committed to each other in order to end talks of a potential transfer.

“Gareth is a Real Madrid player and loves Real Madrid and Real Madrid love Gareth," Barnett told ESPN FC. "All this talk about leaving is written by reporters who have no idea what is going on and who need to write something and don't care if it is true or not."

Former Real president Ramon Calderon echoed Bale’s agents’ comments and believes Bale will remain at the Santiago Bernabeu beyond this summer. He also confirmed an offer for the Welsh international’s services last August from an English club, was rejected by Real.

Manchester United are known to be big admirers of the player with Jose Mourinho openly stating he will be interested if Real were to make Bale available, while his former club Tottenham are also likely to be in the running.

It is being suggested that Real will demand close to €100 million ($123.7 million) for Bale from interested suitors and Calderon believes it is a figure that will not deter clubs who are keen to sign the Welsh forward. Especially since the transfer record was already smashed by PSG, who paid $272 million to sign Neymar from Barcelona last summer.

“I think he is going to stay here,” Calderon said, as quoted on Yahoo Sports. “As far as I know, an English club wanted to have him in August and the offer was rejected but I’m sure there will be many more if Real Madrid decides not to have him or the player decides to leave.”

“This is an interesting player for anyone, and for English football he has shown that he’s very valuable. He will have many, many opportunities and I’m sure he will succeed anywhere he goes."

“Now, 100 million euros is nothing,” Calderon, the club's president from 2006 through 2009, said. “It was a lot when I paid for Cristiano. Everyone thought I was mad, and then Bale was 100-and-something, [Kylian] Mbappe 150 or 160, Neymar 220, so I don’t see 100 as that much now,” he explained.

“I always said that it was going to be a problem for him but he coped with it very well. Coming here, having paid more than for Cristiano, of course it was a handicap for him.”