5 players who were set for a January exit but couldn't secure a move during the window

Olivier Giroud was set for a move away from Chelsea  but may now leave the club for free in the summer.
Olivier Giroud was set for a move away from Chelsea but may now leave the club for free in the summer.

#4 Gareth Bale

Gareth Bale has struggled for playtime in recent time.
Gareth Bale has struggled for playtime in recent time.

It is no secret that Gareth Bale is not part of Zinedine Zidane's plans at Real Madrid for the future. Since the last transfer window, Bale continues to be linked with a move away from the Santiago Bernabeu and always top the list of players most likely to leave the club.

He came tantalisingly close to departing from the club back in the summer,with the Chinese club Jiangsu Suning agreeing on personal terms with the player offering him a whopping wage of over £1 million a week. But Real Madrid pulled the plug on the deal at the eleventh hour.

Since this fiasco, in the six months that have followed, he only made a total of 12 appearances in the La Liga for Los Blancos scoring twice and adding two assists to his tally as well.

In the January transfer window, as usual, Manchester United were reported to be interested in him, but his former club Tottenham Hotspur emerged as surprise suitors for him, with multiple reports indicating that Spurs were keen on bringing him back, especially with Jose Mourinho, his long-time admirer at the helm.

But, despite club president Daniel Levy visiting Madrid to hold talks with Real Madrid, nothing came to fruition and he is now left no other option than to bide his time at the club under a manager who does not find him useful.

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