Real Madrid remain hopeful that Tottenham will pursue a permanent deal for Gareth Bale this summer, despite his saying he will return to the club.
The Welshman dropped a bombshell this week when he insisted his plan was to return to the Bernabeu at the end of the season following his loan spell with Tottenham.
That announcement came as something of a shock in Spain, where Madrid have made it very clear they do not want the Welshman back.
El Confidencial pick on the story today and report that despite Bale’s comments, Madrid ‘still hope’ that Tottenham will ‘make the effort’ to sign him permanently, and they ‘expected’ Bale’s comments this week.
That optimism is built on the good relationship between Tottenham chief Daniel Levy and his counterpart Florentino Perez and the fact Madrid ‘facilitated’ Sergio Reguilón’s move to Spurs last summer.
The biggest issue, though, is Bale’s wage packet. He moved to Spurs because he ‘wanted to test’ whether Mourinho would ‘bring him back to stardom’.
That was only possible, though, because Tottenham were willing to pay half of his €15m a year wages, with Madrid paying the other half just to get him off the books and out of the club for a year.
Madrid are keen to get rid come the summer when he does return, but Bale wants the ‘agreement to be fulfilled’, and his final €15m be paid to him.
If he is to leave, it has to be at zero cost, meaning Madrid are facing a prospect similar to the one Barcelona had with Luis Suarez in the summer, letting him leave for free and paying half his wages as well.
It’s stated that selling Bale ‘is not easy’ because he is not ‘doing his part’ nor is he revaluing himself at Tottenham, where his performances have come in streaks at best.
As such, the matter is ‘tangled’.
Bale knows Madrid don’t want him but is also refusing to give up his wages to secure a move elsewhere despite the fact him returning ‘would be a problem’ for everyone concerned.
