Bale agent blasts ‘disgraceful’ Real Madrid fans
Gareth Bale's treatment by Real Madrid fans was "disgraceful" and the Spanish club did not help the situation, according to the Wales attacker's agent.
Real Madrid’s Welsh midfielder Gareth Bale arrives at the Tottenham Hotspur training ground in north London on September 18, 2020, as steps to secure Spurs’ former player on loan continue. – Gareth Bale is “close” to sealing a sensational move back to Tottenham, the player’s agent Jonathan Barnett said on Wednesday, seven years after joining the Spanish giants from Spurs for a world record fee. (Photo by David MIRZOEFF / AFP)
The 31-year-old has returned to Tottenham on a loan deal, having left them in 2013 for a then world-record fee of £85 million ($109 million).
The winger, whose contract with Madrid runs until 2022, won four Champions League crowns and two La Liga titles in Spain.
He is also the all-time top-scoring British player in La Liga, with 80 goals in 171 league appearances.
But he fell out badly with coach Zinedine Zidane and on a number of occasions was subject to booing from sections of the Madrid support.
His agent, Jonathan Barnett, said Bale had not been treated with the respect he deserved.
“In my opinion, he wasn’t treated correctly for somebody who’s done so much for a great club,” Barnett told the BBC.
“I think that things were wrong. It’s hard to put one finger on it but I think somebody who has achieved what he has achieved for a club, in seven years, should have been treated better.
“I don’t want to blame anybody or go into it. I think what the fans did was disgraceful and the club didn’t help. That’s all I really want to get into.”
Barnett hopes the move will restore Bale’s love of football once he is fit for action, expected to be next month.
Bale has agreed a season-long loan at Spurs but Barnett said he hoped the forward could stay longer.
“Hopefully the subject (of returning to Real) won’t come up,” he said. “He will be so successful at Tottenham he’ll want to stay and it will be a simple deal to do the rest.”
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