Gareth Bale is close to completing a move to a Chinese club Jiangsu Suning that will see the Welshman earn close to £1m per week, according to reports.
Bale has been a linked with a move to China since last weekend and following Zinedine Zidane’s strongly worded comments regarding his future at Real Madrid. The Frenchman said the Spanish club were “working on his exit” and expected a deal with an unnamed club to be “imminent”. That now appears to be the case with Bale said to be nearing agreement on personal terms with Jiangsu.
The club currently sit sixth in the Chinese Super League and are managed by the Romanian Cosmin Olaroiu. Their squad contains the former Internazionale and Atlético Madrid defender Miranda, who joined on a free transfer this week, and one-time Liverpool target Alex Teixeira.
Bale was keen to stay at Real having joined the club six years ago for a then world record £85.3m fee and with three years left on his current deal at the Bernabéu but Zidane has been at the forefront of a sustained and very public campaign to move him out of the club and led to the 30-year-old’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, brandishing Real’s coach a “disgrace”.
Bale’s time at Real has been a hugely successful one. He played an important role in the Spanish giants winning four Champions Leagues, one La Liga, a Copa del Rey, three Uefa Super Cups and three Club World Cups. He has suffered injury problems, however, limiting him to 79 La Liga starts in the past four years.
