6 teams Gareth Bale could be playing for at the start of next season
Following his match winning cameo against Liverpool that saw him win his fourth Champions League title in five years at the club, Gareth Bale’s post-match comments took many, including this writer, by surprise.
While he would undoubtedly have been disappointed not to have started the match, surely the joy of his decisive contribution would mask any earlier frustration at missing out on a place in the starting line-up.
Either way, Bale used his interviews afterwards to state his displeasure at being left out of the team by Zinedine Zidane and that he would be sitting down with his agent in the summer to discuss his next move.
Therefore, with his stock higher than ever, where will the Welsh wonder be plying his trade when the 2018/19 season kicks off?
#6 Real Madrid
The most likely scenario still remains Bale turning out in the white of Madrid at the start of the next season.
Although he hasn’t been a regular starter this season, he has still been an important member of the squad, with Bale often being the first man Zidane turns to when he needs to change a game, just as it was in Kyiv.
He also has a lucrative contract, thought to be worth about £300,000 a week with the club until 2021. Bale, however, seems to be one of the rare players in the modern game, whose wage packet is his secondary motivation. He wants to win trophies and play games. He knows that with his quality the finances will take care of themselves.
At 28 years of age, he is well into the peak of his career and he won’t want to spend those years as a bit part player, even at a club as big as Real Madrid.