Gareth Bale has decided to not renew his contract at Real Madrid beyond the summer, his agent Jonathan Barnett has confirmed. The 32-year-old enjoyed a fruitful spell at the Santiago Bernabeu, though struggled to nail down a role in the Spanish side's first-team after a series of injuries.
The Wales international, who arrived in La Liga nine years ago for British record fee worth £85million, featured 258 times for Los Blancos, directly contributing towards 173 goals. He was a pivotal piece in the puzzle which saw Real Madrid become the first side to win the Champions League three years in a row.
Bale won three La Liga titles, four Champions Leagues and four FIFA Club World Cups during his spell at the Bernabeu. He spent many of his final years at Real Madrid either plagued with injury, on the bench or loan at Spurs - and the Welshman's agent has hinted that he a return to White Hart Lane could be on the cards.
READ MORE: Antonio Conte and Fabio Paratici handed fresh summer transfer dilemma after key Tottenham change
Speaking to Record Portugal, his agent confirmed that his client will leave the Spanish giants this summer. Barnett said: "Gareth will leave Real Madrid.
"His return to English football is likely, I think," Bale's agent added, before steering the focus ahead to Wales' World Cup play-off games in the coming weeks. "But, his future now depends on Wales and their playoff games for the World Cup."
According to Spanish outlet El Nacional in February, Spurs and Real Madrid reached an agreement 'three months ago' for the Welshman to return to the Premier League side at the end of the season. The report claims that it would be the final contract of the Bale's career, following speculation that he could retire at the end of his Real Madrid deal.
However, while Spurs fans may - or may not be - hopeful of return, Bale could have already burned his bridges following comments after his loan spell in north London. He said: "There’s no distraction for me. I think the main reason I came to Spurs this year was to play football first and foremost.
"Going into the Euros I wanted to be match-fit. The original plan was to do a season at Spurs and after the Euros still have a year left at Real Madrid. My plan is to go back, that’s as far I have planned."
Bale's agent since claimed that his client's comments were taken out of context, but former Tottenham midfielder and talkSPORT pundit Jamie O’Hara disagreed. Speaking on talkSPORT’s Kick Off, he said: "As players we’ve all said things in press conferences and thought, ‘I probably shouldn’t have said that…’ I don’t think he’s meaning to be disrespectful for Spurs and Spurs fans, because he’s done so well there over the years, but it was disrespectful."
