Wrexham news: Gareth Bale's agent opens up on transfer plans after Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds continue 'talks'
Gareth Bale's agent has dismissed the chances of his client coming out of retirement to play for Wrexham despite continued public hope from owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Following his congratulatory message after the title win, McElhenney jumped at the chance to speak with the five-time Champions League winner. "Hey @GarethBale11 let’s play golf, where I totally won’t spend 4 hours trying to convince you to un-retire," he wrote online.
Bale has since responded, saying: "No I don’t think so. think I was looking more for a free round of golf off Rob. I'm sure we'll have a chat and a joke but I'm quite happy where I am. I'm spending a lot of time with my kids, my wife, time that I've lost so much over the years being committed to football. I'm just enjoying family life and playing some golf."
"He's flattered by the offers, but they're all tongue-in-cheek. He's having a great life at the moment and [it is] well-deserved, he's been the best British footballer probably ever.
"He's now having a well-deserved rest. They [Reynolds and McElhenney] haven't actually spoken to me, they may have spoken to Gareth but Gareth doesn't want to play football anymore. He's had a great career and he's enjoyed himself, but he's having a great life now.
"He's with his family which is the most important thing. He's spending a lot of time with his children and that's what he wants to do."
"I’m also weirdly happy for him to do exactly what he wants to do with his life," Reynolds said to S4C when explaining the situation. “He’s given up so much for a sport that he loves. It’s fun, though. I like that we can kind of do some stuff that’s a little outside the box of convention when it comes to goofing around.
"I didn’t think Ben Foster would be coming over and he did." McElhenney has also tried to keep their hopes alive. "Gareth, okay listen, it's just me and you talking for a second," he said.
"I know that Southern California is beautiful and I know, I'm from Philadelphia and I've lived here for many, many years but you're a young man and you have the rest of your life to live wherever you want," he added, speaking on The Aarthi and Sriram Show.
"If you could just come back from one last year of glory, one last year. I believe your nation, the nation of Wales, could do the right thing. Call me."
Barnett can't imagine Bale following suit, though. "He'd been discussing it for a long time and, for him, it was the right time," he said.
"He's achieved everything he wanted to achieve. He's played for Wales at the highest level, the World Cup, which is what he really wanted to do and I think he knew his body wasn't really up to it anymore. He'd had a hard time with his body the last few years and now he's a different person."