Real Madrid are reported to have made a decision to sell Gareth Bale at the end of the current campaign. The Wales international has sustained multiple injuries during his time with the European champions, and it appears that manager Zinedine Zidane is prepared to sanction the attacker’s sale in the summer.
According to Spanish outlet Marca, the La Liga holders are willing to part ways with Bale during the off-season as they do not believe that he is capable of stepping into the shoes of Cristiano Ronaldo in the future.
Bale was reckoned as the dream signing for Los Blancos after their failure to sign Neymar in the summer of 2013, but his career has been hampered by multiple injuries season by season.
The ex-Tottenham man has suffered as many as 25 injuries over the course of his four-and-a-half year stay with the Bernabeu outfit, and he is said to have missed 78 league matches in this period.
As per Marca, Los Blancos do not see Bale as a Ballon d’Or material, and they are willing to sanction his exit in the summer in order to enhance the development of Marco Asensio, who is regarded as a player with immense potential to become world-class.
Just two weeks ago, Bale’s representative Jonathan Barnett suggested the Welshman’s value could be equivalent to that of Neymar’s, who made a world-record £200m switch to Paris Saint-Germain last summer.
However, Los Blancos’s hierarchy are said to have no expectations of receiving such a fee, and they are prepared to accept a cut-price £80m sum for the attacker, which still remains a huge outlay for his suitors.
Bale impressed on his return after the winter break, but he has found himself starting on the bench of late, most notably against Paris Saint-Germain in the first-leg of the Champions League round of 16.
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