Gareth Bale “tired of stupid lies” about his Real Madrid future, says agent
Gareth Bale's agent insists that the Welsh star has never wanted to leave Real Madrid and hit out at "stupid stories" that have suggested otherwise.
The 29-year-old has regularly been linked with a return to the Premier League during his five-and-a-half years in the Spanish capital.
However, Jonathan Barnett dismissed the notion that he is looking for a move.
“Bale's always felt an important part of this team,” he told Madridista Real.
“Like I said before, Bale's never wanted to leave Real Madrid. He's really happy at the club and the club are happy with Bale.
“The truth is we're tired of the stupid stories and lies.”
Bale told BT Sport after last season’s Champions League final that he “needs to be playing week in week out”, but he has featured regularly for Los Blancos this season following Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Juventus.
The Wales captain has scored 11 goals in 24 appearances in all competitions for Real this season and is one strike off a century for the club.
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“Gareth's always been respectful with the fans and at moments some fans have been angry with him, maybe unfairly,” said Barnett.
“But currently the fans have realised that they were wrong, he's a superstar, a player at the heights of Real Madrid.”
He added: “He's suffered campaigns against him, the treatment he's received from some sections of the press has been really unpleasant.
“I think that jealousy could be the motive behind these campaigns in various sections of the media against Bale.”
Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.