The Gareth Bale situation at Real Madrid shows how toxic life can be at one of the world's most powerful soccer clubs

The club has made it clear that it does not want him. The fans do not like him. And the pro-Madrid media in Spain criticize him.
It all seems to be coming to a head, as the current manager Zinedine Zidane has told the media that he hopes Bale goes away for good.
It is an open invitation for interested clubs like Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur to make a move and rescue Bale from what has been, for him at least, one toxic workplace.
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Gareth Bale's situation at Real Madrid shows how toxic life can be at one of the world's most powerful soccer clubs.

Bale's treatment by Real Madrid the club management, its fanbase, and its media mouthpieces has been called an "utter disgrace."

The Telegraph wrote that Bale has been made a "scapegoat" to disguise greater failures at Real Madrid as the club has, until this summer, lacked a succession plan in the post-Cristiano Ronaldo era, and has experienced great instability because of the way it fired and hired three different coaches in one year.

Most recently, the current coach Zinedine Zidane has said he wants Bale out of the club for good. The Welshman was absent from a recent pre-season match, a 3-1 loss to Bayern Munich in Houston, Texas, and Zidane told the media that "the club is arranging his exit if [his exit] is tomorrow, that's for the best. I hope it is imminent."

It is an appalling way to treat an employee who has helped bring continental glory to Madrid in the six years he has spent at the club.

Bale transferred to Real in September 2013, for a then-world record transfer fee of $111 million. In the six seasons since, the 30-year-old contributed to the league championship, domestic cup, and four UEFA Champions League-winning sides, notably showing extraordinary clutch to score match-winning goals at critical moments in high-profile finals.

High-profile finals like 2014, when Bale ran almost the full length of the pitch, making a number of players at Real's bitter rivals Barcelona look like fools, before beating Bara goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto one-on-one, winning the match in the 85th minute.

Remind yourself of it right here:

Or how about the time Bale pulled off one of the most acrobatic goals in Champions League history, converting a bicycle kick off Marcelo's cross to send Real 2-1 up over Liverpool FC, before netting his second and his team's third goal 19 minutes later. Another match, another final, another trophy won because of Bale.

Gareth Bale transfer news Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images

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ESPN pointed out on Tuesday that Bale has etched his name alongside legendary company as he has won more trophies at Real than Zidane, has a better goals-per-game ratio than popular striker Raul, and provided more assists than free kick king David Beckham.

Bale's stint at Real is not exempt from criticism, though. He has been injury-prone, playing in approximately 75% of matches in all competitions since beginning his soccer career in Spain. And this has been used to smear him as pro-Madrid media began calling him "Mister Cristal," which means Mr. Glass.

The Spanish media's treatment of Bale instigated a war of words between the BBC and MARCA.

In 2015, the BBC's Spanish football writer Andy West acknowledged that Bale had been struggling for form, but said MARCA had ulterior motives for attacking the player . West argued that the publication was doing so to mock the club president Florentino Perez, who had been quarreling with MARCA at the time.

MARCA replied by publishing a short article crowbarring the crimes of predatory sex offender Jimmy Savile, who worked for the BBC for decades, into a response aimed to belittle and mock the BBC's self-described impartiality rules.

The club's own players have nicknamed him 'the golfer' because of his proclivity to spend time on the fairways over socializing with his teammates, goalkeeper Thibault Courtois told Belgian newspaper HLN.

The club's fickle fanbase also never accepted him as one of their own. He's been booed during matches, jeered, and there have been reports that fans kicked and attacked his car when he tried to drive away from the club's training ground.

The player's powerful agent Jonathan Barnett, the chairman and founder of Stellar Group Limited, called the way Real fans treated Bale as "nothing short of a disgrace."

Earlier this year, Barnett told Sky Sports : "Gareth deserves the greatest of respect. In the six years he has been in Spain, he has won everything. He's one of the best players in the world. Those fans should be kissing his feet. This generation of Real fans will be talking about Gareth's goals for years to come. Frankly, they should be ashamed of themselves."

Real Madrid transfer news, Zinedine Zidane on Gareth Bale Photo by Howard Walker/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Bale is in an untenable situation.

In what was seen as the last opportunity for him to wave goodbye to Real Madrid, Bale was left on the substitutes' bench for the last match of last season, against Real Betis in May. Zidane refused to bring him on to the pitch, using his maximum allowance of substitutes on other players instead.

Rather than join the team on the field after Real had lost 2-0, Bale just headed down the tunnel by himself, leaving the commentary booth wondering if it was the last people would see of the forward wearing Real colors.

That was May. The transfer window in Spain opened for business on July 1. It is now almost August and Real is yet to find a buyer even though the team is in the middle of pre-season training, playing in friendly matches against other European teams in the well-regarded 2019 International Champions Cup an unofficial tournament Bale won't play any part in.

"Well [Bale] wasn't called up because I believe the club is arranging his exit and that's why he didn't play," Zidane told the press this week . "We'll see what happens. If [his exit] is tomorrow, that's for the best. For all of us, I hope it is imminent, and for him also. The club is talking about where he can go play, and that's where we are."

"It's nothing personal, it's not personal," Zidane said. "There comes a time where these things happen and it's what needs to be done. I have nothing against Gareth. I make the decision and we need a change. We'll see what is going to happen."

Bale has a market valuation of $33 million to $44 million, according to CIES Football Observatory . But his wages may prove a stumbling block. He currently earns $435,000 every week at Real Madrid, a club he is contracted with until 2022. Buying clubs will balk at having to commit to paying a 30-year-old $23 million every year, for the next three years.

But the sports media believes there may well be options.

Paris Saint-Germain has its own big-name player apparently wanting out of the club. Neymar did not report for pre-season training at PSG until the third day, and though a deal with FC Barcelona has been suggested , the Brazilian had previously been heavily linked with Real .

Neymar, PSG goal Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images

British publication The Independent reports that a straight player-swap that sends Bale to PSG and Neymar to Real could satisfy all involved.

Bale has also been linked with a return to his former club Tottenham Hotspur, Football.London reports . A number of clubs competing in the cash-rich Chinese Super League could also afford both the transfer fee and his wages.

Ultimately, it all comes down to Bale.

This has been going on for years yet Bale continues to turn up to training, play matches when selected, and score at an average rate of one goal for every two games played.

He is resilient and may just stay until his contract expires, collect his wages, and continue to do what he has done since he joined the club. A club that has shown, through its own treatment of him, that it can be one toxic place to work.

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