Toxic for Real Madrid
ABC: Top earner Bale will never play for Zidane again - 60m for the stands
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Gareth Bale will never play under head coach Zinédine Zidane at Real Madrid. That statement has been underlined by a report that has been published by the Madrid-based paper ABC. Zidane has told the club leadership that Bale is toxic for the club and needs to be sold. The Welsh international, however, wants to sit out the contract that pays him €30 per season and runs until 2022.
Update 20:23 BST: In an interview with Sky Sports Bale has given his perspective on his current situation at Real Madrid. "I want to play football, I am still motivated to play football, so I guess it's on the club," Bale said. "They are in control of everything. I have a contract, all I can do is carry on what I am doing and hopefully something comes up."
Bale also said that in 2019 he was willing to join the Chinese club Jiangsu Suning. "There have been other instances where we have tried to go but the club won't allow it or they've done something. It's down to the club." Asked whether he would be interested in a Premier League return Bale said that he would be open for such a move and that there is still time in the transfer window.
"He preferred not to play," Real Madrid head coach Zidane said about Gareth Bale at the UEFA press conference ahead of the Champions League game against Manchester City on Aug. 6. "The rest remains between him and me, but he said he didn't want to play." Bale has only played 99 minutes in Real's run to the LaLiga title—his last match was on Jun. 24 against RCD Mallorca. Bale's performance in that game was the straw that broke the camels back.
After the Mallorca game, Zidane had enough of Bale
According to the report, Bale treated the game like a test match and did not support Daniel Carvajal on the right flank. In the 71st minute, Zidane decided to bring the player off—since then, Bale, who in 2013 arrived for a record €101 million from Tottenham, had to sit out six games on the bench. Then against CD Leganés and Man City, he did not even make the squad. Zidane sees Bale as a player who generates a bad atmosphere within the dressing room—it is difficult to work with a player who is lacking the ambitions of the rest of the squad.
The 100 most expensive transfers in history
100 Robinho - Real Madrid to Manchester City - 08/09 - fee: €43M
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99 Andriy Shevchenko - Milan to Chelsea - 06/07 - fee: €43.88M
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98 Joelinton - Hoffenheim to Newcastle - 19/20 - fee: €44M
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97 Nicolás Otamendi - Valencia to Manchester City - 15/16 - fee: €44.5M
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96 Nemanja Matic - Chelsea to Manchester United - 17/18 - fee: €44.7M
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95 Juan Mata - Chelsea to Manchester United - 13/14 - fee: €44.73M
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94 Leroy Sané - Manchester City to Bayern Munich - 20/21 - fee: €45M
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93 Mateo Kovacic - Real Madrid to Chelsea - 19/20 - fee: €45M
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92 Youri Tielemans - Monaco to Leicester City - 19/20 - fee: €45M
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91 Rodrygo - FC Santos to Real Madrid - 19/20 - fee: €45M
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90 Vinícius Júnior - Flamengo to Real Madrid - 18/19 - fee: €45M
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89 Fabinho - Monaco to Liverpool - 18/19 - fee: €45M
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88 Granit Xhaka - Borussia Mönchengladbach to Arsenal - 16/17 - fee: €45M
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87 Eliaquim Mangala - Porto to Monaco - 14/15 - fee: €45M
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86 James Rodríguez - Porto to Monaco - 13/14 - fee: €45M
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85 Ronaldo - Inter to Real Madrid - 02/03 - fee: €45M
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84 Pavel Nedved - Lazio to Juventus - 01/02 - fee: €45M
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83 Nathan Aké - Bournemouth to Manchester City - 20/21 - fee: €45.3M
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82 Rio Ferdinand - Leeds to Manchester United - 02/03 - fee: €46M
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81 Christian Vieri - Lazio to Inter - 99/00 - fee: €46.48M
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80 Christian Benteke - Aston Villa to Liverpool - 15/16 - fee: €46.5M
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79 Mesut Özil - Real Madrid to Arsenal - 13/14 - fee: €47M
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78 Gaizka Mendieta - Valencia to Lazio - 01/02 - fee: €48M
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77 Ferland Mendy - Lyon to Real Madrid - 19/20 - fee: €48M
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76 Gylfi Sigurdsson - Swansea to Everton - 17/18 - fee: €49.4M
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75 David Luiz - Chelsea to PSG - 14/15 - fee: €49.5M
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74 Mauro Icardi - Inter to PSG - 20/21 - fee: €50M
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73 Sébastien Haller - Eintracht Frankfurt to West Ham - 19/20 - fee: €50M
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72 Éder Militão - Porto to Real Madrid - 19/20 - fee: €50M
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71 Bernardo Silva - Monaco to Manchester City - 17/18 - fee: €50M
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70 Alex Teixeira - Shakhtar Donetsk to JS Suning - 15/16 - fee: €50M
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69 Ben Chilwell - Leicester City to Chelsea - 20/21 - fee: €50.2M
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68 Leroy Sané - Schalke to Manchester City - 16/17 - fee: €52M
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67 Kyle Walker - Tottenham to Manchester City - 17/18 - fee: €52.7M
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66 Gianluigi Buffon - Parma to Juventus - 01/02 - fee: €52.88M
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65 Timo Werner - RB Leipzig to Chelsea - 20/21 - fee: €53M
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64 Alexandre Lacazette - Lyon to Arsenal - 17/18 - fee: €53M
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63 Antoine Griezmann - Real Sociedad to Atlético - 14/15 - fee: €54M
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62 Aaron Wan-Bissaka - Crystal Palace to Manchester United - 19/20 - fee: €55M
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61 Bruno Fernandes - Sporting to Manchester United - 19/20 - fee: €55M
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60 John Stones - Everton to Manchester City - 16/17 - fee: €55.6M
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59 Hulk - Zenit St. Petersburg to Shanghai SIPG - 16/17 - fee: €55.8M
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58 Álvaro Morata - Chelsea to Atlético - 20/21 - fee: €56M
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57 Hernán Crespo - Parma to Lazio - 00/01 - fee: €56.81M
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56 Jorginho - Napoli to Chelsea - 18/19 - fee: €57M
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55 Benjamin Mendy - Monaco to Manchester City - 17/18 - fee: €57.5M
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54 Fernando Torres - Liverpool to Chelsea - 10/11 - fee: €58.5M
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53 Fred - Shakhtar Donetsk to Manchester United - 18/19 - fee: €59M
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52 Miralem Pjanic - Juventus to FC Barcelona - 20/21 - fee: €60M
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51 Luka Jovic - Eintracht Frankfurt to Real Madrid - 19/20 - fee: €60M
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50 Tanguy Ndombélé - Lyon to Tottenham - 19/20 - fee: €60M
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49 Naby Keita - RB Leipzig to Liverpool - 18/19 - fee: €60M
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48 Oscar - Chelsea to Shanghai SIPG - 16/17 - fee: €60M
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47 Anthony Martial - Monaco to Manchester United - 15/16 - fee: €60M
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46 Luís Figo - FC Barcelona to Real Madrid - 00/01 - fee: €60M
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45 Alisson - Roma to Liverpool - 18/19 - fee: €62.5M
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44 Ángel Di María - Manchester United to PSG - 15/16 - fee: €63M
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43 Raheem Sterling - Liverpool to Manchester City - 15/16 - fee: €63.7M
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42 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - Borussia Dortmund to Arsenal - 17/18 - fee: €63.75M
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41 Christian Pulisic - Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea - 18/19 - fee: €64M
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40 Edinson Cavani - Napoli to PSG - 13/14 - fee: €64.5M
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39 João Cancelo - Juventus to Manchester City - 19/20 - fee: €65M
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38 Aymeric Laporte - Athletic Bilbao to Manchester City - 17/18 - fee: €65M
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37 Alvaro Morata - Real Madrid to Chelsea - 17/18 - fee: €66M
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36 Diego Costa - Chelsea to Atlético - 17/18 - fee: €66M
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35 Kaká - Milan to Real Madrid - 09/10 - fee: €67M
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34 Riyad Mahrez - Leicester City to Manchester City - 18/19 - fee: €67.8M
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33 Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Inter to FC Barcelona - 09/10 - fee: €69.5M
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32 Victor Osimhen - Lille to Napoli - 20/21 - fee: €70M
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31 Rodri - Atlético to Manchester City - 19/20 - fee: €70M
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30 Thomas Lemar - Monaco to Atlético - 18/19 - fee: €70M
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29 Arthur - FC Barcelona to Juventus - 20/21 - fee: €72M
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28 Romelu Lukaku - Manchester United to Inter - 19/20 - fee: €74M
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27 Frenkie de Jong - Ajax to FC Barcelona - 19/20 - fee: €75M
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26 - Ángel Di María - Real Madrid to Manchester United - 14/15 - fee: €75M
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25 James Rodríguez - Monaco to Real Madrid - 14/15 - fee: €75M
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24 Kevin de Bruyne - Wolfsburg to Manchester City - 15/16 - fee: €76M
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23 Zinédine Zidane - Juventus to Real Madrid - 01/02 - fee: €77.5M
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22 Kai Havertz - Leverkusen to Chelsea - 20/21 - fee: €80M
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21 Nicolas Pépé - Lille to Arsenal - 19/20 - fee: €80M
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20 Lucas Hernández - Atlético to Bayern Munich - 19/20 - fee: €80M
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19 Kepa - Athletic Bilbao to Chelsea - 18/19 - fee: €80M
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18 Luis Suárez - Liverpool to FC Barcelona - 14/15 - fee: €81.72M
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17 Virgil van Dijk - Southampton to Liverpool - 17/18 - fee: €84.65M
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16 Romelu Lukaku - Everton to Manchester United - 17/18 - fee: €84.7M
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15 Matthijs de Ligt - Ajax to Juventus - 19/20 - fee: €85.5M
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14 Harry Maguire - Leicester City to Manchester United - 19/20 - fee: €87M
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13 Neymar - FC Santos to FC Barcelona - 13/14 - fee: €88.2M
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12 Gonzalo Higuain - Napoli to Juventus - 16/17 - fee: €90M
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11 Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United to Real Madrid - 09/10 - fee: €94M
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10 Gareth Bale - Tottenham to Real Madrid - 13/14 - fee: €101M
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9 Paul Pogba - Juventus to Manchester United - 16/17 - fee: €105M
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8 Eden Hazard - Chelsea to Real Madrid - 19/20 - fee: €115M
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7 Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid to Juventus - 18/19 - fee: €117M
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6 Antoine Griezmann - Atlético to FC Barcelona - 19/20 - fee: €120M
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5 João Félix - Benfica to Atlético - 19/20 - fee: €127.2M
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4 Ousmane Dembélé - Borussia Dortmund to FC Barcelona - 17/18 - fee: €130M
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3 Philippe Coutinho - Liverpool to FC Barcelona - 17/18 - fee: €145M
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2 Kylian Mbappé - Monaco to PSG - 18/19 - fee: €145M
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1 Neymar - FC Barcelona to PSG - 17/18 - fee: €222M
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A transfer, however, is not what Bale and his agent Jonathan Barnett want. Bale's agent has pointed out on several occasions that he has no interest in leaving Madrid and that he likes living in the city. According to ABC, that attitude remains unchanged, but also that Zidane has no interest in working with the player. "Transfer or nothing," the paper wrote.
Bale, however, seems unfazed by the situation and even fooled around on the stands, pretending that he was sleeping. Real, at the time, decided not to sanction his behavior as they did not want to bring unrest to the team right in the middle of a title fight. On Sep. 8, Bale will return from the Welsh national team, and a conversation will only take place because Zidane wants to communicate that Bale will have to leave for him to play.
Top earners without top performances: Man United and Arsenal in similar situations
A top earner, who does not perform on the pitch? Both Manchester United and Arsenal are familiar with that situation. While the Red Devils were able to pay out Alexis Sánchez and his €30 million contract, the player moved on to Inter Milan, Arsenal's Mesut Özil is unwilling to move on. But unlike Bale, the former German national team player has the desire to make the first team at the Gunners.
“My position is clear,” said the 31-year-old in an interview with The Athletic. “I’m here through to the last day of our agreement, and I’ll give everything I have for this club. Situations like these will never break me; they only make me stronger. I showed in the past that I can come back into the team, and I will show it again.”
The best paid German footballers (gross wages)