Gareth Bale has continued his status as a windup merchant at Real Madrid this week.The 2019/20 season raised serious questions about the Welshman's integrity at the Bernabeu as his game-time was reduced after being refused a lucrative move to the Chinese Super League.While it's impossible to judge the former Tottenham man without knowing the full situation in Spain, he's certainly given us enough evidence to suggest that he has become uninterested at Real.
Bale's situation in Spain
The ignition switch seem to have been flicked back in November when Bale unabashedly held up a 'Wales. Golf. Madrid' banner with his teammates after securing qualification for Euro 2020.
It seemed to spark a chain reaction of incidents that essentially gave the impression that Bale was lifting two fingers to the fact he was being marginalised within the Real squad.
And one of the common threads throughout these moments has been Bale's enjoyment of golf, which has proven something of a sticking point for Real fans.
Running joke about golf
While it goes without saying that Bale, like other players, is more than entitled to enjoy a hobby in his spare time, golf has almost become a symbol of something more for the Welshman.
Photographs of Bale mimicking a golf swing in Real Madrid training seem, for all intents and purposes, to be a nod at the fact he is so often criticised for spending time on the course.
That, and things seemed to escalate upon the return of La Liga football after the COVID-19 pandemic when Bale's behaviour on the bench made headlines around the world.
Bale's appearance in BT advert
And yes, if you're reading this article then you know that Bale is up to his usual antics again and this time it comes with a cameo in BT Sport's advert about an imaginary 'unlimited subs' rule.
The amusing video shows various famous faces in the sport reacting to the possibility of an infinite amount of substitutions being possible to make during games - and Bale makes an appearance.
Bale, naturally, appears in the video on a putting green in golf clothing and drops his phone after Trent Alexander-Arnold essentially suggests the rule would mean he actually got game-time.
Check out the full advert down below:
You just couldn't write it, could you?
I don't know whether to give Bale a round of applause for taking the situation in such good humour or really cringe inside that his Real career has essentially reached the point of parody.
Bale has given nothing but indications that he's a really sound guy, so I'm assuming that it's more the former than the latter, otherwise he probably would have told BT Sport to jog on.
But that doesn't make it any less sad that a player who scored winning goals in two Champions League finals for the world's biggest club could be leaving amidst a series of golf jokes.