Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon believes his former employers will sell forward Gareth Bale this summer due to the player showing a “lack of commitment” to the team.
Despite winning the Champions League on four occasions - scoring three goals across the four finals - Bale has often been an divisive character amongst Madrid supporters after suffering with multiple injury problems.
The discontent against Bale has appeared to rise in recent times after it was claimed that he still speaks limited Spanish and rarely socialises with his teammates. The 29-year-old also refused to celebrate a recent goal with his teammates, shunning the efforts of Lucas Vazquez to enjoy the moment with him.
Calderon, who served as Madrid president from 2006 to 2009, believes he will be sold as a result.
"It's true that he wasn't the leader people expected here after Cristiano (Ronaldo's) departure," Calderon told Sky Sports News.
"He showed a lack of commitment. People are not happy - they saw how he shrugged off his team-mates when they went to celebrate a goal with him last La Liga match and also (his) injuries.
"It's a pity. I don't see him here next season unfortunately."
Bale has since been linked with a return to the Premier League, with Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur both believed to be interested in bringing him back to England six years after his departure.
The Wales international rose to prominence during his six seasons at White Hart Lane, scoring 55 goals in 203 appearances and twice won the PFA Players’ Player of the year, doing so in 2011 and 2013.
Whilst he is reportedly settled in Madrid, it seems as if the club are set for a summer of transition after they were eliminated from the Champions League on Tuesday night, losing 4-1 to Ajax at the Bernabeu, going out 5-3 on aggregate.
Bale suffered yet another injury in the match and Calderon feels his lack of effort to include himself off the pitch will contribute to his sale.
"I think he doesn't know that the fans that go to the Bernabeu are very respectful, but also are very demanding and mainly with two things," he added. "The main one, lack of commitment, is what they have seen in Gareth Bale.
"He's left the stadium during a few matches before those matches had finished. That behaviour with the team-mates, also that he doesn't speak the language, are some facts which give the fans the idea that he's not really committed with the club.
"That's something the fans are condemning and that's why he's the one to blame for that, at least that's what the fans think."
