Jonathan Barnett on Bale and Zidane Situation: “The coach should be happy and honoured he is on the pitch for him.”

Jonathan Barnett, Gareth Bale’s agent, is a master at stirring the pot, and being overly vocal when he doesn’t need to be — while his client remains silent, for that matter.

Yesterday Barnett appeared on the BBC’s Football Daily Podcast, where he spoke about Bale’s situation, and also made it clear that Bale isn’t going anywhere unless the right offer comes along.

“He’s not ecstatic,” Barnett said of Bale’s Real Madrid situation. “(But) he has got a contract and as long as he is a Real Madrid player he will play at 100 per cent – and do very well.”

“The facts and figures prove if he is on the field for Real Madrid they have a better chance of winning. A 100 per cent Gareth Bale is one of the best players in the world. The coach should be happy and honoured he is on the pitch for him.

When speaking of Bale’s potential departure, Barnett said “There’s no guarantee he is leaving. If the right opportunity came along for him and it’s something he wants to do we have to have a chat with the president of Real Madrid (Florentino Perez) and see where we are.”

Naturally, Barnett was also asked about the flag fiasco from the last international break, where he reiterated that the flag — which was not championed from Bale himself — was only poking fun at the media and not Real Madrid:

“It was directed only to the media because they had been writing very infantile and stupid stories from people that do not know him.

“The truth is he has done fantastically for Real Madrid in the years he has been there and helped them win so much. It’s hard to imagine why the crowd react the way they do to him and listen to people that say things in the press.

“People say it would be better if he speaks the language but he speaks fluent Spanish and people write things that are complete rubbish.

“Gareth does not really like speaking to the press and that’s his prerogative. He is not an entertainer as such, he’s a footballer, he speaks on the field and his results have been amazing. People should realise that and start applauding him for what he is achieving.”

Of course, in today’s press conference at Valdebebas, Zinedine Zidane didn’t escape any Bale questions, and when asked about whether or not he’d stop Bale from playing golf (something that the Welsh National Team is doing to prevent Bale from getting injured), Zidane said: “I’m going to give you my reply, the club might say something different,”

“I’m not going to stop any of my players from doing anything in their free time.