After nearly 5 years in the Spanish capital, it looks like Gareth Bale’s time at Real Madrid will be coming to an end this summer. Numerous reports from Spain suggest that Madrid are ready to cut their losses with the injury prone Welshman. Madrid are set for a huge summer of spending after being well off the pace in La Liga this year. Their lack of transfer activity last summer and the sale of high profile players, such as James Rodriguez, have left Madrid’s squad looking thin and lacking strength in depth. President Florentino Perez will want to change that this summer and will spend heavily to do so. Bale looks like the man to make way, either being sold or used in a swap deal to bring in some new galacticos.

 

So after victory in a variety of competitions ( 3 Champions Leagues, 1 La Liga, 1 Copa Del Ray, 2 Uefa Super Cups and 2 Club World Cups) the jury still seems to be out on whether Bale has been a success in Madrid. From a team standpoint Bale could not have hoped for much more when he joined Madrid. He has won every possible trophy he could have during his time in Spain. He has also played pivotal roles in some of those wins. He scored the winning goal in the Copa Del Ray final during his first season at the club. With Ronaldo on the bench, the spotlight was on Bale. With the game at 1-1 he gathered the ball deep in his own half and made a lung busting run past Barcelona defender Marca Batra and calmly slotted the ball into the Barcelona net. It was the kind of goal he was scoring regularly at Tottenham where he showcased the talent that persuaded Real Madrid to spend £85.3 million on him, a world record at the time.

 

Bale built on this success by scoring the winning goal in the Champions League Final in the same season. It was Madrid’s tenth Champions League and their first since 2002. Bale had proven he could do it on the biggest stage against the best players. He finished his first season with an impressive 22 goals and 16 assists and was part of the most feared front three in world football. Over the next few years Bale was supposed to push Ronaldo and eventually take over as Madrid’s star player and potential Ballon D’or winner. Yet 3 and a half seasons later Bale seems to be on his way out. Whilst Ronaldo has just won his 5^th Ballon D’or.

 

Injuries have played their part, Bale has struggled with calf and ankle injuries over the last 2 seasons. He did not start in last season’s Champions League victory over Atletico Madrid and has not been able to consistently show the form for Madrid that he has shown for Wales. He has also struggled to learn the language which has not endeared him to supporters. Bale has heard boos from the Madrid faithful on a number of occasions during the last few years and is something that will not have gone unnoticed by the Madrid hierarchy.

 

Bale has been one of UK football’s most successful ever exports, with British players known to struggle playing overseas. He can look back on his time in Spain with pride if this summer is to be the end. However he will also be frustrated that he is leaving before Ronaldo. The man he was supposed to replace as the king of Madrid is still there. While he leaves unfulfilled, liked but never loved in Madrid.