Bale agent says Ronaldo exit changes nothing at Real

Matt Stead

The departure of Cristiano Ronaldo has no bearing on the Real Madrid future of Gareth Bale.

Bale and Ronaldo have endured a seemingly difficult relationship during their five years together in the Spanish capital.

The pair have struggled sharing the Bernabeu spotlight since Bale took Ronaldo’s moniker of ‘most expensive player ever’ when he joined from Tottenham in 2013.

Bale’s future has been the subject of much speculation after a season spent in and out of Zinedine Zidane’s first team, but he strengthened his bargaining position with two goals in the 3-1 Champions League win over Liverpool last May.

With Ronaldo leaving to join Juventus for £99m, many believe Bale will now be tempted to stay.

But agent Jonathan Barnett has told ESPN FC that nothing has changed with regards to his future, and that negotiations are ‘still required’ with the club.

It is added that Bale’s decision will not be ‘directly affected’ by Ronaldo’s exit, and that talks will still go ahead as planned – ‘despite some local media reports that the sit-down had been cancelled as there was now nothing really to discuss’.

Bale is contracted to the club until 2022, and will meet with new head coach Julen Lopetegui when he starts in the post on Monday.