Gareth Bale's Agent Responds to Rumours of a Real Madrid Exit This Summer

The agent of Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale has rubbished claims that the Welsh winger could be leaving the Bernabeu this summer, following on from speculation that Kylian Mbappe joining Los Blancos could force Bale into the arms of Manchester United.

"It's a ridiculous, stupid story," Jonathan Barnett told BBC Sport in no uncertain terms.

In his eyes, his client will definitely be a Real player next season after signing a new long-term contract with the club just last October.

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On Friday, a report from Spain suggested that Bale remains 'oblivious' to the rumours of a high profile exit. It was suggested that he remains perfectly happy in Spain and has no intention of quitting the club any time soon.

Speaking after the Champions League final in early June, his third European title in just four years since becoming the then most expensive player in history, Bale himself expressed his desire to stay.

"We are winning trophies and I am happy. I have signed a long-term contract at Madrid. My family is happy and I am happy, so yes we will continue what we are doing," he said at the time.

"It's the reason why I came to Real Madrid - to win trophies. We're enjoying winning them at the moment, so we'll continue to do so. Three Champions Leagues in four seasons isn't too bad.

"I think we can get better. We are still quite young as a whole team and we have a great squad."

Unfortunately for Bale, the 28-year-old has experienced two successive injury hit seasons. The 2015/16 campaign promised to be his best ever, but he was limited to just 23 La Liga games. Further problems in 2016/17 meant he only played 19 times in the league, and 27 overall.