A shocking report had emerged claiming that Gareth Bale would retire after Euro 2020. The Welsh superstar is currently preparing for the highly-anticipated European Championship, but once that is complete, little is known about what the future holds for the winger.
Spanish news outlet ABC were the ones behind this claim, stating that the 31-year-old was ready to hang up his boots once this summer's tournament came to a wrap. What would be in store for the former Tottenham ace then? According to that report, the player had his eyes on a career as a pro golfer.
Bale has not enjoyed his time in the Spanish capital, that is no secret. However, not many expected him to choose retirement over a return to Los Blancos, given the numbers he produced in his season-long loan at Spurs.
The Welshman's second spell in north London wasn't exceptional as playing time was hard to come by under Mourinho. However, when given the opportunity, the Real Madrid man showed everyone why he was once the world's most expensive player, scoring 11 goals in just 10 Premier League starts.
In fact, in 2020/21, no player managed a better minutes-per-goal ratio in the English top-flight than Bale, scoring once every 83.9 minutes. Injuries have taken a toll on the attacker, but given that he's still capable of playing at the top level, the question on everyone's mind is why would he contemplate retirement this early?
Well, according to the player's agent, the idea that Gareth plans on hanging up his boots this summer is utter "rubbish". This question was brought forward by talkSPORT to Jonathan Barnett, the Welshman's representative, and he wasted no time in ending the speculation.
"Sorry, I don't speak about rubbish reporting," was Barnett's definitive answer on this matter, as per the Sun.
But then what exactly is in store for the former Southampton talent? This remains uncertain. Bale himself admitted that his loan spell at Tottenham was merely to work up his fitness for Euro 2020 and that he will be returning to Real Madrid this summer.
However, with only a year left in his contract, his future needs sorting out. Zidane has been trying to offload the Welshman for quite some time and it will be interesting to see whether he can pull this off in this transfer window.
