Manchester United have been served a decisive blow in their pursuit of Gareth Bale after his agent revealed the Welshman wants to win the Ballon d’Or with Real Madrid.
Louis van Gaal’s side have been linked with a move for Bale all summer and were reportedly looking to reignite their interest in the former Spurs forward next summer, but may have to look elsewhere for a marquee signing after his agent, Jonathan Barnett, expressed his client’s desire to retire as a Galactico.
“It is all stupid paper talk. He is very happy at Real Madrid and hopefully he will stay there for the rest of his career. He is love it there,” Barnett told Sky Sports News at a Soccerex Convention on Tuesday.
“Gareth is at the biggest club in the world and he’s going to be the biggest player in the world.
“Real Madrid have made it very clear that he is, or will be, their main player and that’s the way it’s going to stay.
“The next few years are going to be very exciting for him. I don’t think he will play anywhere else, but you never know. Certainly I don’t think he will come back to England to play but you never know.
“At the moment he is very happy. He wants to win the Ballon d’Or and with Real Madrid he has got a great chance.”
The 26-year-old has endured an indifferent time since he was made the world’s most expensive player in 2013 (£85m), but has started this season in fine style. In fact, his WhoScored rating of 8.65 is only bettered by one player across Europe’s top 5 leagues of players to have made at least two league appearances.
For more stats on Gareth Bale, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
No way he is retiring in Madrid...