Former club president Calderón: “it’s sad to see Bale wasting his time”

Former Real Madrid President Ramón Calderón recently spoke with the BBC about the situation surrounding Gareth Bale at Real Madrid.

“It’s very sad. It’s a pity to see a player like him in the stands. I think his skill and talent has not gone, he is still a good player who could be playing at a high level in any team in the world.”

“Therefore I think they will have to find a solution to end this agony for the sake of both sides. If he doesn’t want to reduce his salary, which would be understandable, they will have to find another way to finish this situation.”

“The coach does not rely on him. The problem is he has two more years’ contract. It’s sad to see him wasting his time because he is still for sure fit and in good shape.”

The whole situation surely is frustrating for both Bale and Real Madrid. You have a player that seemingly has drama between him and Zidane, but also doesn’t seem close to leaving.

The latest in the saga was Bale reportedly requesting to sit out the Manchester City match last Friday. He did not travel with the team.

Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett has said before that Bale will see out his contract with the club. This makes it difficult as Bale spent most of the La Liga restart riding the bench.

Calderón also suggested that Real let him go on loan and pay part of his large salary. There’s really no reports currently that suggest Real are even considering this.

Injuries have plagued Bale throughout his career in Madrid. It’s truly prevented him from being a consistent world class player knowing his skill. Even though he’s still had a great stint with the club, it’s frustrating knowing he could’ve been even greater when healthy.

There’s clearly no easy solution to this problem for either side. Bale seems comfortable collecting his paycheck with minimal playtime at this stage in his career. We’ll have to just settle for watching how this plays out the rest of the summer and into the new season in September.