Gareth Bale to Swansea City or Cardiff City…. yes it’s being suggested!

He may have played for Southampton, Spurs and Real Madrid but yesterday there really was journalistic suggestions that Gareth Bale could return to Wales to play his club football should Wales be successful in their campaign to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar later this year.

Both Sky Sports and The Athletic put the suggestion out there yesterday that Bale – out of contract in Madrid this summer – could return to either the Premier League or Championship football in Wales if it meant he could appear in a first Wales World Cup campaign since 1958.

The suggestion of course, is ridiculous.  Isn’t it?   This is a player who was once the World’s most expensive footballer and a player who has commanded weekly wages into the hundreds of thousands of pounds.  A player who has been Wales’ talisman for many years and a player who, once available, will surely attract interest from those aforementioned Premier League clubs before the need is there to drop a level even if it is to return to his native Wales.

There is of course the small matter of the World Cup play offs where Wales still have to overcome Austria and the winners of Scotland v Ukraine to even earn the right to appear at that first World Cup finals for more than 60 years.

So, how did the reports come about?   Well, Sky Sports reported that Bale is set to leave Madrid this summer (no surprise in that) and is possibly going into retirement at the age of 32 (Bale turns 33 in July)    However, the report suggests that, should Wales qualify, then they will be keen to use him in their squad for Qatar with Sky Sports suggesting “Bale could consider signing a short-term deal with a Premier League or Championship side to ensure he is ready for the tournament.

“It is believed Bale, who turns 33 in July, could consider joining Cardiff or Swansea.”

Since joining Madrid in 2013, Bale has won four Champions League titles and two La Liga titles and of course played in two European Championship finals for Wales where he helped his country to the semi finals in 2016, losing out to eventual winners Portugal.

Under Carlo Ancelotti this season, Bale has made just three appearances for Real.

Sky Sports News’ Kaveh Solhekol explained “Wales have got this big play-off coming up in March against Austria and then they will play Scotland or Ukraine if they get through the first tie.

“I think if Wales qualify for the World Cup then he’s going to be without a club in the summer because his contract is set to expire at Real Madrid. So what I think he will then do is try to sign a short-term contract with a club back in the Premier League or the Championship.

“I actually think it is more likely that it could be a club in Wales in the Championship that he signs a short-term contract with.

“And if Wales don’t qualify for the World Cup I think there is a very good chance that Bale will just retire from football when his contract runs out in the summer because he feels he’s achieved everything he set out to achieve in the game and if he’s not going to be able to play in the World Cup with Wales then he’ll retire.”

It feels  almost inconceivable that Bale could end his playing career at either Swansea or Cardiff City but if he is feeling then the end of his career is around the corner then a short term deal would not be totally out of the question for either side assuming that Bale’s wage demands drop significantly from current levels.

The whole report right now has to be taken with a pinch of salt particularly, as stated above, that any short term deal would surely attract the interest of Premier League clubs but the comments of the Sky journalist make interesting reading if nothing else.   And it’s definitely not April 1st.