Gareth Bale is “angry” at how he has been treated at Real Madrid and now wishes to leave the club, according to reports.
Bale came close to departing the Bernabeu this summer, with Zinedine Zidane keen to get his sizeable salary off the wage bill.
The Welshman had agreed a three-year deal with Chinese Super League side Jiangsu Suning, only for Madrid to back out of a deal at the last minute.
It was supposedly an intervention from club president Florentino Perez, who did not want to lose Bale without a transfer fee, which caused the move to collapse.
The former Tottenham forward was brought in from the cold at the start of the season, scoring two goals and providing one assist in his first five La Liga outings.
However, he was left out of Madrid’s matchday squad for last week’s draw with Club Brugge – a decision that did not go down well with the player or his agent, Jonathan Barnett.
And according to BBC journalist Guillem Balague, Bale now wants to leave the club with whom he was won four Champions Leagues and a La Liga title.
“Gareth Bale is fed up,” Balague said. “He can do this no longer. At a time when he began to stand out, knowing that as he plays matches his fitness would be sharpened, he suddenly had to watch the game against Brugge in the stands. Nobody knows why.
"He is angry, confused. When Zidane returned to the club, he decided he did not want Bale, without anyone having offered a clear reasoning. Bale was told that Zidane, with whom he has a professional relationship, had made an unequivocal decision and was preparing for his departure.
"His agent, Jonathan Barnett, set out to find him alternative options, but Bale preferred - ahead of any other possibility - to remain at the club. What the Welshman does not quite understand is why the doors were opened, and then they did not let him go.
"Bale has played well in recent weeks - partly because he is angry - in response to the distance and coldness with which the coach treats him, and he has finally rebelled at his situation.
"Leaving him out of the game against Brugge is difficult to understand, and has been the last straw. For the first time since he arrived at Real Madrid in the summer of 2013, the Welshman wants to leave. He feels that it is not fair what is being done with him."
Bale returned to the Madrid side for Saturday’s 4-2 triumph over Granada, a result which keeps Zidane’s side in top spot in La Liga.
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