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Real Madrid star Gareth Bale's agent, Jonathan Barnett, did not hold back against the Spanish press in a recent interview. The Englishman was furious at the press' treatment of his agent Bale and went on to clarify the state of his relationship with Real Madrid.
Bale has found it challenging to maintain his place in Real Madrid's XI due to several reasons. The main one, perhaps, being his lack of availability due to several recurring injuries. Beyond the pitch, he has been scapegoated for his affinity towards golf and reportedly being 'aloof' in the Spanish capital.
Despite what the reports have suggested his relationship with Real Madrid and Zinedine Zidane to be, Barnett has no qualms about it. The football agent is confident that his client shares a healthy professional relationship with everyone at Real Madrid. In turn, he has blasted the press for leaking stories that aren't true. This is despite the harsh words exchanged between the parties in the past.
'Real Madrid and Bale on good terms' says agent
Speaking on Bale and Real Madrid, Barnett told talkSPORT,
"The relationship with the club has always been good. I have had a fantastic relationship with the president, the CEO and (Zinedine) Zidane. Obviously we have had a few words between us, but who does not have an argument sometimes. In any case, it was never personal and not in a bad tone, but on good terms."
The Englishman is confident that Real Madrid have never said anything against Bale, and it is the press that is responsible for this poor image of his client. He continued,
"Nothing bad has ever come out of Real Madrid about Gareth Bale , and Zidane has never said anything bad about Gareth Bale, but the press continues to invent things."
One of the significant concerns that the Real Madrid faithful had about the Welshman was his inability to communicate in Spanish. There have been several reports in the past which address this particular issue.
Barnett, however, had a few strong words for the 'idiots' who have formed this opinion which he says is baseless. Bale's agent claims that the forward speaks Spanish and people who comment otherwise simply do not know him and are misinformed.
Labelling this perception of the Real Madrid star as a 'disgrace,' Barnett commented,
"The so-called experts appear on television over and over again and say things like that the biggest problem with Gareth Bale is that he doesn't speak Spanish, and it's a disgrace."
The Englishman continued,
"Those people never know him and never asked anyone, so I have no idea where they get this opinion. Gareth Bale speaks Spanish, so I don't want to listen to these so-called experts who become complete idiots when they go to television to talk trash."
He ended the interview by reserving a part of the blame for television experts who are of the same belief as the 'idiots' he referred to earlier. He found it amusing to see such despicable claims regarding his client being made without actually knowing him personally.
Barnett concluded saying,
"And I also blame television companies for attracting these so-called experts. How can these experts at Gareth Bale talk about him when they don't know him. It's a joke!"
Bale has returned to training with Real Madrid ahead of the LaLiga Santander restart as they hope to steal a march over Barcelona.
