Real Madrid set for a £30m Bale headache upon Tottenham return

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 2 min read

Real Madrid might have felt their Gareth Bale problem had been solves when they offloaded him to Tottenham in October, but in reality they have simply deferred the issue.

Bale returned to the Premier League amid the expectation that he could recapture his form of old. Instead, he has only served to justify the opinion of Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane that he is not worthy of regular first-team football.

From the player who scored arguably the greatest goal in Champions League final history, Bale is now firmly in the bracket of Europa League makeweight.

Real Madrid, of course, do not deal in such players.

While Bale has been a problem with his weighty salary for months, it is only going to become a greater one when he inevitably returns to the Bernabeu.

The reason for this is simple: Brexit.

Bale faces fight for Real Madrid spot

When Bale goes back to Real Madrid at the end of his loan deal, he will be a non-EU citizen. Given there are only three slots in the squad open to players in such a position, he will find himself squaring up against Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Goes, Eder Militao, Reinier Jesus and Takefusa Kubo just to get on the roster.

Meanwhile, offloading him will be an onerous task. Bale has made it clear that he intends to honour his contract worth an estimated £30 million (€34m) per year. Finding a club that is willing to pay him that sum will be difficult, finding him one that he also wants to move to will surely be impossible.

Madrid will, therefore, be left in a quandary. Do they include Bale, a player whose contract is up in 2022 and clearly has no interest in a long-term future at the club, in their squad at the expense of a promising youngster? Or do they have in exile, picking up his lavish wage for playing more golf than competitive football?

One goal in six Premier League outings with Tottenham this season speaks volumes for the level Bale currently finds himself – and it is not an acceptable one for Real Madrid.