The Wales international would appear to be happy with his role at the club.
Jonathan Barnett, Gareth Bale's, agent said that the player "is happy in Madrid" despite being the most whistled footballer at the Santiago Bernabeu in recent years. Now he will be even happier because they don't whistle him anymore because the Welshman has gone from playing regularly or coming off the bench to a millionaire substitute. Zinedine Zidane has stopped counting on him despite his attempts to get the best out of him. His form has dipped and he's lost his place in the team in 2020.
Zidane left all the controversy surrounding the player behind to use him for the benefit of the team this season. He has gone against the current and the criticism to try and recover his form despite the opposition among Madrid supporters and the attacks from the player's agent, Barnett. "Zidane is a disgrace," he said once. "He doesn't show any respect for a player that has done so much for Real Madrid."
But the French coach let it go and has defended the player all season, giving him more chances than expected.
2020 STRUGGLES
It's true that Bale earned his place at the start of the season but he's dipped since and the New Year has seen him disappear. Injuries interrupted his consistency, as has been the case all too often, and he missed 13 games with fitness problems. This season, he has played 33.8 percent of possible minutes. He's the best-paid player at the club on 17 million euros net per season and is still the club's most expensive signing, at 101 million euros in 2013.
His effectiveness this season has reduced to three goals, two in La Liga and one in the Copa del Rey. One every 385 minutes -- or every 4.2 games. In 2020, Madrid have played 14 games and he has started three. He was injured for six. In the other five matches, he has been a substitute. He was on the bench against Manchester City and Barcelona this week. He came on against City but the real game-changer was Raheem Sterling.