Gareth Bale’s time at Real Madrid could be numbered

Gareth Bale‘s ‘outburst’ in Madrid’s win against Levante raises speculation as to whether his time at the club is numbered.

Gareth Bale scored the penalty that gave Real Madrid and it should have been a joyous occasion. But the scenes after he scored, refusing to celebrate with teammate Lucas Vazquez has added another dubious chapter to his time at the Spanish giants.

This was supposed to be the year for Gareth Bale at Real Madrid. With Cristiano Ronaldo being sold to Juventus, it was finally his time to be the main man at the club. Time for the club to build the team around him and for him to be the superstar. However, it’s been another struggling year filled with minor injuries and seeing his playing time dwindle under Santiago Solari. While he was never a bonafide starter under Zinedine Zidane, he contributed with crucial goals in the Champions League. Including an overhead kick in the final against Liverpool.

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It was clear that he had enough of being under Ronaldo’s shadow. When they both announced that they were contemplating their future at the club after winning their third European title in a row, it seemed to be a power play by both of them to see who Real Madrid saw as more valuable. As we all know, Bale won out. When Zidane announced he was leaving and Julen Lopetegui was later announced as the new manager, all signs pointed that, yes, it was time for Bale to be the main man and he was going to get that chance.

Everything under Lopetegui was a disaster. There’s no other way to put it. The Welshman was far from being the only player culpable but because he was the most high-profile, a large chunk of the blame fell on him. Everyone struggled but he was supposed to be the one to get them out of it as Ronaldo had done before. He didn’t and then, under Solari, he started to pick up injuries in games that would force him to be subbed off and later miss games altogether.

With Solari trying to right the ship, he began trusting players from Real Madrid Castilla. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons Bale is no longer a starter is the emergence of one of those Castilla players, Vinicius Jr. The Brazilian has taken the league by storm and played remarkably well considering his age and the fact that it’s his first season at Real Madrid. All those factors bottled over in Bale’s refusal to celebrate with Vazquez. In many respects, he’s still an outsider despite being there since 2013.

For one, he’s yet to learn Spanish and doesn’t appear too keen to learn it. In an interview with Marcelo, the long-time Madrid fullback described how the two communicated in the dressing room.

Marcelo said, “On the other side I have Bale, but Bale does not speak Spanish as he only speaks English and we talk with gestures and I say, ‘Hi, hello, and good wine.”

It’s difficult to bond with your teammates and acclimate yourself to a new city or culture if you don’t even make the effort to try to learn the language. That is what’s happened to Bale and it’s easy to become isolated in such an environment.

Failing to settle and bearing the brunt of the blame from the fans for the team’s struggles early on in the season, it should come as no surprise that rumors have sprung up about the former Spurs player heading back to the Premier League. The latest reports state that Manchester United and Chelsea are interested in acquiring his services. If he were to leave, a return to England would make the most sense.

Gareth Bale has not been a bad player for Real Madrid. But he has not lived up to the expectations when he became the most expensive transfer back in 2013. In his tenure, he’s been in and out of the starting line-up and whenever he hits a good run of form, the injury bug hits him and he has to start all over. He’s been rumored with a move away in the past but the latest ones might have more merit considering what’s happened this season.

Whatever happens throughout the remainder of the season, whether Real Madrid makes a chase at the league title, or even if they go on and win their fourth Champions League in a row, Gareth Bale may well be looking at a future somewhere other than the Spanish capital.