Zinedine Zidane fuels speculations of Gareth Bale's exit from Real Madrid, says he 'could leave in a matter of days'

Welsh forward Gareth Bale's tenure at Real Madrid seems to be drawing to a close as manager Zinedine Zidane said that the club was working on the transfer of the player to another club. 

Bale was left out of the match against Bayern Munich that saw Real Madrid go down by 3-1 in a pre-season contest at Houston. Bale had moved to Madrid from Premier League side Tottenham Hotspurs for a record fee of 100 million euros in 2013. However, the forward has not been able to cement his place in the star-studded Madrid lineup. 

"He wasn't included in the squad because the club is working on his departure... that's why he didn't play," Zidane told a news conference. "We'll have to see if it goes through tomorrow if it does then all the better. Let's hope, for everyone's sake, that it happens soon", he added. 

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Bale, who was expected to fill the void created after the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, faced severe flak from the Spanish media for failing to do so, leaving Real Madrid to finish at the third place in the previous year's edition of the LaLiga, 19 points behind arch-rivals Barcelona. 

Zidane, however, said that he had no personal motive against Bale and that he did not blame Bale for not being able to meet the expectations of the media.  

"There comes a time when things are done because they need to be done. I've not got anything against him," Zidane said. "We have to make decisions and change things, that's all there is to it. I don't know if this will happen in 24 or 48 hours. It's for the best for everyone", he added. 

Bale's agent Jonathan Barnett ruled out chances of him leaving on loan saying he was happy to stay amid reports linking him with Manchester United, Bayern Munich, and Spurs. 

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