Bale won't leave Real Madrid, says agent

Gareth Bale's agent insists the Welsh attacker won't be leaving Real Madrid on loan or on a permanent transfer while he is happy in the Spanish capital.

The player's representative doubled down on his comments from last month when he said Bale will "probably" end his career with Los Blancos.

"Gareth is fine. He has two years left on his contract," Jonathan Barnett told BBC Sport's Dafydd Pritchard. "He likes living in Madrid and he is going nowhere.

"He is still as good as anyone else in the team. It's up to (Real Madrid manager) Zinedine Zidane. Of course there's been interest, but there's hardly a club in the world which can afford him.

"It's a great loss that he's not in the Real Madrid team at the moment, but he will not leave."

Bale only started 12 times during Real Madrid's victorious 2019-20 La Liga campaign. The four-time Champions League winner has a fractious relationship with Zidane; club president Florentino Perez's determination to keep Bale at Real Madrid contributed to the French boss ending his first tenure in 2018, Pritchard explains.

Zidane, who returned to the helm in March 2019, said last summer that Bale leaving the club would be "best for everyone," but a transfer to Chinese side Jiangsu Suning failed to materialize.

"Gareth is not looking to outlast Zinedine Zidane. Mr. Zidane has been very successful," Barnett continued. "There's no hatred. Mr. Zidane just does not want to play him.

"Gareth trains every day and he trains well."