The seemingly endless transfer saga involving Gareth Bale has taken yet another twist.
The Real Madrid winger had seemed all set to leave the Spanish capital to chase one final big payday in the cash-rich Chinese Super League by joining Jiangsu Suning.
However, despite the fact that head coach Zinedine Zidane had openly stated that the club had been moving towards moving the Welsh winger, Real's board vetoed the transfer after citing the immense, then-world record transfer fee the club had paid to sign him from Tottenham in 2013.
Bale has certainly had an interesting six years at the Bernabéu. On one hand, he has been an integral part of Real Madrid's dynasty, helping Los Merengues win four Champions League titles in five seasons. Scoring a spectacular bicycle-kick in the 2018 final against Liverpool ensured that Bale would forever have an indelible place in the history of the world's most storied football club. He was also selected as part of the Champions League's all-tournament team in 2016.
On the other hand, though, Bale's stint at Real thus far has also been blighted by numerous injuries. Over the six seasons he has spent at Real, Bale has played in just 155 of Real's 228 league matches. On average, one can reasonably expect him to miss approximately a third of the season. This fact has certainly hindered both Real's success and his own development as a player; his peak was all too brief because of those injuries. Furthermore, he also had chemistry issues with some of Real's other players; his game has not always dovetailed well with those of his teammates.
In recent times, Bale had fallen out of favour with Zidane and seemed to be on his way out of the club. The proposed transfer to Jiangsu would have made Bale the world's highest-paid player. Although Bale received public support from club president Florentino Pérez, the fact that he had already been in an awkward spot at the club has only added further confusion to what was already a tense and highly-charged situation.
The veto of Bale's transfer may have been influenced by a severe injury suffered by promising young winger Marco Asensio. During an off-season friendly match against Arsenal, the Spaniard tore his ACL, ruling him out of the entire 2019-20 season. This in turn would leave Real somewhat thin on the wings, thus causing the club to reconsider Bale's departure. Asensio's ACL injury may also have affected the transfer status of James Rodríguez, whose own expected transfer out of Real also seems to have hit a snag.
Despite this fact, there are teams which ought to consider making a move to sign Bale. At 30, Bale does have two or three more good years left in him before obvious signs of decline are likely to set in. Should he end up leaving Real, he does have options; he might yet even end up becoming a key contributor to a deep Champions League run, but for a different team.
One of the more intriguing possibilities for Bale would be a transfer to Paris Saint-Germain. There has been much speculation regarding the future of Edinson Cavani and Neymar; both could end up leaving during this current off-season. Bale would be able to serve as an ample replacement for one of them, thus bolstering their chances of making a deep Champions League run. Even if neither leaves, Bale might take over from Cavani as a starter alongside Kylian Mbappé and Neymar. His arrival would make PSG even more formidable than they already are.
Napoli would also be another viable option. Bale would be a clear upgrade over José Callejón. Alongside Dries Mertens and Arkadiusz Milik, Bale would become part of one of the best frontlines in world football and turn the Campanian club into a possible sleeper pick to win it all. Napoli have never been beyond the round of 16 in the European Cup or Champions League; Bale's arrival might just change that.
It remains to be seen what the future holds for the greatest player to ever come out of Wales. Whatever Gareth Bale's next move may be, it will certainly have quite an impact on European club football as a whole during the coming season.
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