July 29 – The high-profile move of Gareth Bale from Spain to China is off after Real Madrid cancelled the deal, with the Welsh international now set to stay at the Spanish club instead of switching to Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning for a reported £1 million a week.
Bale joined Real for €100 million from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013 in a then world record deal and has three years left on his contract.
Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane said last week that Bale was “very close” to leaving and that his exit would be “best for everyone”. But the deal is now reported to have collapsed with Bale’s future in limbo unless an alternative transfer can be arranged. The Chinese club were reportedly unwilling to pay a transfer fee to Real Madrid on top of his wages. Bale has three years left on his contract at Real.
Despite several memorable goals, because of injury problems Bale has made just 79 league starts for Madrid in the last four seasons and was booed by his own supporters at times during last season.
He was left out of the Madrid squad for their pre-season friendly against Bayern Munich, but played and scored in the 2-2 draw against Arsenal.
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