Gareth Bale’s agent rules out move to Manchester United from Real Madrid
Gareth Bale's agent Jonathan Barnett has said his client will not leave Real Madrid for Manchester United, contrary to speculation.
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Speaking at the Soccerex conference for the football industry, Barnett insisted talk of Bale moving to the Premier League was "complete rubbish".
He said: "I think that's one of the things that the transfer window does, it gives people the time to write rubbish. Gareth Bale's never said he wants to leave Real Madrid, Real Madrid have always said how happy they are with him.
"Why would he want to leave Real Madrid if everyone is happy? It just doesn't make sense, it's complete rubbish."
When asked if Bale could eventually return to the Premier League he replied: "One can never know for sure, you can never rule it out but he's contracted at Real Madrid for a number of years and hopefully he'll stay for the rest of his career.
"He loves it there. It's a wonderful club, the biggest club in the world. Why would anyone want to leave there?"
Barnett, who founded one of the UK's biggest sports management companies Stellar Group, said he was "very proud" of how his company had helped Bale settle in Spain, describing it as "the most important" role for an agent.
Other Stellar clients include Luke Shaw, Jonjo Shelvey and Joe Hart but Bale is the jewel in the company's crown and Barnett said the Welsh star would soon be seen as the best player in the world.
"He wants to win the Ballon d'Or and I think he's got a real chance", he said.