Gareth Bale's problems at Real Madrid have often come down to not fitting in with life in Spain and it seems his teammates were right about how good his Spanish is.
It's unlikely that Gareth Bale will remain a Real Madrid player past this season. The Welshman wasn't happy last season under Zinedine Zidane, wasn't playing much in the last throes of Santiago Solari's spell as manager and has now seen Zidane return to the hot seat.
Despite numerous titles with Los Blancos Bale has never really settled in the Spanish capital since his then world record transfer fee move from Spurs in 2013.
In a recent interview, with Marca, Marcelo was talking about the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo last summer and said, "[I was also sad] with [the departure of] Kiko Casilla, who was sitting next to me [in the dressing room]. Every day I was saying, 'How are you Kiko, how are you doing?' and now I have no one next to me.
Advert
"On the other side I have Bale, but Bale does not speak [Spanish] as he only speaks English and we talk with gestures and I say, 'Hi, hello and good wine.'"
Whether or not that's an exaggeration about how bad Bale's Spanish is we don't know but a video posted on Real's YouTube proves that he still struggles with the language nearly six years on.
It's further proof that despite helping Real win four Champions League titles in five years the Welshman just hasn't been able to ingratiate himself into life in Spain.
Speaking recently another teammate, Thibaut Courtois, explained further the 29 year old's problems, saying, ""I live like somebody who is born and bred in Madrid. I eat late, I go bed late...it is their way of life.
"The other night we had a dinner with the entire squad. "But Bale and (Toni) Kroos did not turn up. They reckoned the dinner was too late at night.
"We had arranged to be in the restaurant at 9.30pm and we started out meal around 10.15pm and by midnight we were having coffee.
"We go to bed at around 1am. We have to train every morning at 11am. I think that is a perfect time.
"But Bale had told us 'I am not coming to join you, guys. I go to bed at 11'."
Will Bale leave in the summer?
Topics: Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, gareth bale, Zinedine Zidane, Champions League, Thibaut Courtois, Spanish football, Real Madrid, La Liga, Luka Modric
