Report: Gareth Bale's proposed move to China falls through
On Saturday it looked like Gareth Bale was headed to China. On Sunday that’s no longer the case.
Sky Sports reports that Bale’s move to Jiangsu Suning has fallen through, leaving precious little time for a transfer to the Chinese Super League to happen before their window closes on July 31.
No explanation was given, although a couple threads may be drawn here. For one, Bale reportedly was going to make $1.2 million a week with Jiangsu Suning, which more than doubles the current highest weekly wage earner in the league, as former Chelsea star Oscar makes $495,000 a week with Shanghai SIPG.
Furthermore, there have been reports Bale simply does not want to play in China due to its lack of notoriety and comparative resources. And while Bale’s talent has been prodigiously underrated by Real Madrid and its supporters, it’s fair to question if he’s the kind of marquee name for which to splash record amounts of cash.
Saturday’s reports said that negotiations were in the final stages, so any one of these factors might have given either side cold feet.
Real Madrid and manager Zinedine Zidane still seem keen on casting off Gareth Bale this summer. For the time being, they won’t be doing it to Jiangsu Suning.
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