As Gareth Bale enters his fourth year at Real Madrid, is now the right time for him to leave the all-conquering Spanish side?
Football Whispers assesses Gareth Bale's place in Zinedine Zidane's Los Blancos squad as youngsters begin to replace man who was once world's most expensive player
When Gareth Bale joined Real Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013 he was the most expensive player ever in football, signing for £85million.
Since then that mantle has gone to Paul Pogba and then Neymar, whose £198million fee when he swapped Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain more than doubled the fee Los Blancos paid Spurs.
And while Bale may have been knocked off his perch as top dog in the transfer world, he has also been knocked off his perch as a guaranteed starter at Real Madrid.
Could we be seeing the beginning of the end of his time in the Spanish capital? Our friends at Football Whispers have taken a look at the Welshman’s situation.
There’s no doubt that Bale’s move to Spain has been a success.
His time with Real Madrid has seen him won a number of major competitions, including three Champions League titles, a La Liga and a Copa del Rey.
So far this season, he’s already been part of a team that has lifted the UEFA Super Cup (his third at Madrid) and the Spanish Super Cup.
But despite that, there is a feeling that Bale’s Spanish adventure could be approaching its final chapter.
A tactical switch is a massive role in that.
For the majority of Bale’s time in Spain, Los Blancos have lined up in a 4-3-3, which has seen Bale play alongside Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo in a front three dubbed the ‘BBC’.
They went up alongside the iconic ‘MSN’ of Barcelona – Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar – and that has now been disbanded, and perhaps this season will see the end of the ‘BBC’ too.
But Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has dared to switch from the 4-3-3, and who can argue with the Frenchman?
Not only was he a legend as a player at the club, but with two consecutive Champions League wins, he’s proving himself to be an iconic Madrid manager too.
It now seems like Los Blancos’ preferred formation could be with two up front, largely to cater to Isco’s good form, with the midfielder being much better suited to a role just behind the frontline, rather than in a midfield three or attacking trio.
The Spaniard seemed to be on his way out of Madrid at the turn of the year due to a lack of game time, but inadvertently Bale has given him a second chance that Isco has taken with both hands.
The Welshman’s injury-hit 2016/17 has seen his future really come into question.
Put simply, Real Madrid can’t afford to be have a key player missing 29 games through injury in a single campaign - that’s how many the Welshman missed last season.
What’s more, with Isco playing a key role in last season’s Champions League and La Liga success, there is no space for Bale in the team.
And it’s not just Isco who has been in good form for Zidane’s side. Marco Asensio has been on fire, scoring two sensational strikers against Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup.
Zidane reportedly claimed Asensio has the best left foot since Messi, and the 21-year-old has picked up where left off at the end of last season and is really pushing for a first-team slot.
That’s all bad news for Bale.
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The 28-year-old started the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup against Barcelona, but was dropped for the second leg, with Lucas Vazquez taking his place.
If Madrid stick with two up front, you would expect it to be Ronaldo and Benzema, which is a worry for Bale’s future.
He could have a glimmer of hope though, due to the Portuguese superstar’s five-match ban he’s currently serving after pushing a referee.
There are four matches left of that sanction, and Bale will hope to prove his doubters wrong and that he is still good enough to be a talisman for the Spanish side as they compete once again on both the domestic and European fronts.
Bale failed to score in pre-season, and didn’t net against Barcelona, and he’ll hope that against Deportivo La Coruna, Valencia, Levante and Real Sociedad - Real Madrid’s first four La Liga fixtures – he’ll get off the mark.
Isco took his chance when Bale was injured, and with Ronaldo out of action for those four games, this could be the Welshman’s chance.
But if he fails to impress, Ronaldo will be straight back into the team, and it could well be a long way back from there and despite only signing a new contract running until 2022 in October, Real Madrid could be saying adios to Bale a lot sooner than many expected.