is set to leave when his contract expires this summer and Cardiff City have emerged as the surprise favourites to snap him up on a free transfer.
The 32-year-old has been at Real since 2013 but after a superb first few seasons, things tailed off badly for him under Zinedine Zidane and haven’t got any better under current manager Carlo Ancelotti.
The Welshman has made just five La Liga appearances this season, although he is not completely out of favour as he came off the bench against PSG and in recent matches.
However, given his astronomical wages – thought to be around £600,000-a-week – there is no chance that Real will be keeping him on, given how little he is used.
Bale will not be earning anything like those wages anywhere else, especially if the bookmakers are right and he is set for an emotional return to Cardiff, the city of his birth.
Bookmakers have Cardiff City as 13/8 favourites to be Bale’s club after the summer transfer window, which would be an absolutely sensational signing for the team currently sat 17th in the Championship.
Not far behind the Bluebirds in the betting is Bale’s former club Tottenham, where he spent six years from 2007-13 and returned for a loan spell last season.
Bale’s loan return to north London produced some good numbers, scoring 11 goals in 20 Premier League games, but maybe wasn’t quite as memorable as those figures suggest, with plenty of those 11 goals coming in bursts against lesser teams.
Nevertheless, Betfair rate Spurs as 5/2 to be Bale’s next club, with the likes of AC Milan (4/1), Newcastle (10/1) and Rangers (12/1) also seemingly in contention.
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