GARETH Bale’s six-year adventure at Real Madrid may have come to an end appropriately in Texas – the Lone Star state.
Because despite being the biggest transfer signing in history when he moved to the Bernabeu in 2013 for £86m, Bale was always the loner.
Manager Zinedine Zidane announced the Welsh winger was ‘very close to leaving' after Real's 3-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in Houston last month.
He said: "We hope he leaves soon. It would be best for everyone. We are working on his transfer to a new team.
"I have nothing personal against him, but there comes a time where things are done because they must be done.”
During his time in Spain, he won four Champions League crowns, including a spectacular bicycle kick against Liverpool in the 2018 final.
But it has all gone sour for Bale, 30, now, who has three years left on a £650,000-a-week deal.
Here are five reasons his time in Spain is over.
1. The loner dubbed ‘The Golfer’
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois revealed Bale is called ‘The Golfer" by his team-mates because he regularly dashes off after training to play golf.
He was also criticised earlier this year for watching a golf tournament on his mobile phone as the team arrived on the bus for a game at Levante.
Bale also regularly returns to his mansion in Wales when he has time off rather than staying in Spain.
At home he can play on the specially designed three-hole golf course in his back garden.
Courtois added that Bale often drops out of player meals, because he wants to go home to bed early.
Marcelo has also questioned how well he has tried to fit as he doesn’t speak Spanish.
He said: "Bale does not speak [Spanish] as he only speaks English and we talk with gestures."
2. Too many injuries
His time in Spain has been blighted by injuries.
Bale has been sidelined with 20 injuries during his six years at Madrid, and according to Transfermarkt.com he has missed 72 games – or more than a season on the treatment table.
The majority of the injuries have been muscle strains to the calf, hamstring or adductor.
He even stopped driving luxury sportscars to protect his hamstrings.
In 2015 Bale decided to give up the Lamborghinis and Ferraris because they were putting too much strain on his hamstrings.
Sadly it ended his deal with supercar firm Auto Vivendi who gave him a new top-end motor every two months, for a fee of £30,000-a-year.
And he still got just as many injuries.
Injuries limited the Welshman to 79 La Liga appearances in the past four seasons.
He played 42 matches for Los Blancos last term, half of those as a substitute.
3. ZZ doesn’t like him
Zidane’s return for his second spell as Real Madrid manager in March was the beginning of the end for Bale.
During his first spell at the Bernabeu, Zidane allegedly felt Bale was too individualistic and wasn’t tactically astute.
He told president Florentino Perez he wanted to sell Bale in May 2018 and buy Chelsea winger Eden Hazard instead.
But Bale’s amazing goal in the Champions League final prompted Perez to have a change of heart, and days later Zidane quit in disgust.
His return only a few months later was “bad news” according to Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett.
He said in March that Bale and Zidane have fundamental differences.
Barnett said: “Gareth wanted to play one way and Zidane wanted to play another. That was the cause of it and over a period of time it got worse.”
4. Fans have turned on him
Real Madrid fans are notoriously fickle, and have turned on Bale.
He was even booed in Canada last week by fans as he boarded the team bus. Bale was branded ‘ungrateful’ when he reported for pre-season training two weeks ago.
In April he was booed after just three minutes of Real’s 2-1 win over Eibar.
This came after his agent Barnett said: “Frankly, they should be ashamed of themselves. Those fans should be kissing his feet.”
The first time that Bale was booed by Real Madrid fans was five months after he joined the club.
By that time, he had already notched eight goals and seven assists, but a misplaced pass against Granada led to a section of Real fans instantly jeering him.
He's been booed plenty of times since then.
The jeering came to a head in March 2019 during Real Madrid's 1-0 defeat to Barcelona at the Bernabeu.
He was largely anonymous during the game, and he was jeered off the pitch when he came off for Marco Asensio.
5. Hazard is younger and better
Zidane had his way finally this summer with the £150m signing of Hazard from Chelsea.
The Belgian winger is direct competition for Bale on the left wing, although the Welshman is just as comfortable wide on the right flank.
However it is not so much in the team as in the hearts and minds of the fans, and of manager Zidane, that Hazard will replace Bale.
Hazard’s unveiling saw 50,000 fans pack into the Bernabeu, more than double the crowd that had welcomed Bale six years earlier.
He is two years younger than Bale, and is set to become the new Galactico.
The moment Zidane signed Hazard, the writing was on the wall for Bale.
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