Bale pulls out of Madrid’s tour squad

Gareth Bale has pulled out of Real Madrid’s trip to Munich for a pre-season tournament, following the collapse of his proposed move to China.

It is understood Bale is not in the right mental state to play after Real president Florentino Perez prevented him from joining Jiangsu Suning.

Last week, Real boss Zinedine Zidane said the 30-year-old was “very close to leaving” having fallen out of favour.

Zidane added his exit would be “best for everyone”.

The 33-time Spanish champions will play Bale’s former club Tottenham on Tuesday in the opening game of the tournament that also includes Bayern Munich and Fenerbahce.

Bale joined the Spanish club for £85m from Tottenham in 2013 in a world record deal at the time.

He has three years left on his contract with the Bernabeu club where he has won four Champions Leagues, one La Liga title, a Copa del Rey, three Uefa Super Cups and three Club World Cups.

The Welshman scored three goals, plus a penalty in a shootout, in four Champions League finals for Real as they won the competition in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018.

However, injury problems have limited him to 79 La Liga starts in the past four seasons.

He played 42 matches for Real Madrid last season but was booed by the home supporters at times during the campaign.

It has been reported Real blocked Bale’s move as they are demanding a transfer fee for the player.

 

Source: BBC