Tuesday 21 May 2019 19:22, UK
Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has branded the current situation with Gareth Bale as a "soap opera" with an unknown ending.
Since Zinedine Zidane's return to Real Madrid as manager, Bale has fallen out of favour and has not appeared in any of the last three league games this season.
Reports suggest Bale will leave the Bernabeu this summer but it is unsure where he will go and who will be able to pay the vast sum of money required to acquire his services.
Bale is current president Florentino Perez's most expensive signing after he was bought for £85.3m from Tottenham in 2013 and Calderon claims Perez thought Bale would succeed Cristiano Ronaldo.
He said: "Nobody knows how the soap opera is going to end because president and coach have different opinions in criteria.
"[Bale] is his highest signing ever and he doesn't want to accept that he was wrong when he thought that Gareth Bale could be the leader of this team when Cristiano left."
He added: "Zidane left it clear, and he did last year, when he decided to resign because the president didn't accept his decisions."
The manager, who returned for his second spell in charge in March, has hinted that Bale is not part of his plans for next season and Calderon said: "It is difficult for Gareth Bale to be here knowing the opinion of the coach."
The forward has won four Champions League titles and Calderon feels sympathy for Bale's injury troubles but said the language barrier is a hindrance to his relationship with the fans.
"I think it is a bit unfair. He has been having many problems with injuries so he couldn't play regularly," said Calderon.
"He also hasn't learned any single word in Spanish. That hasn't given him the opportunity to give any interview and to get in touch with the fans.
"He came here with a great handicap. We paid for him more than for Cristiano Ronaldo.
"The fans expected that he could be able to score more goals and to play better but to be able to play like Cristiano is impossible."
