Gareth Bale said he should make the first move as wildcard option pops up before Real Madrid exit

Gareth Bale is set to leave Real Madrid at the end of the season and has yet to confirm where he will play his club football next year, with Cardiff City emerging as a potential surprise contender

Gareth Bale has been told he should make the first move if he wants to seal a sensational transfer to Cardiff City this summer.

Wales’ record goalscorer will become a free agent at the end of the season and his protracted nightmare at Real Madrid will finally come to an end. Despite winning all the major honors – including three Champions League crowns – Bale has endured some miserable seasons at Los Blancos.

The 32-year-old was allowed to join Tottenham on loan last season but returned to Madrid in hopes he could be involved in Carlo Ancelotti’s return to the club. However, he has remained little more than a cheerleader, playing just 290 minutes throughout the season.

But while his reputation will be questioned in the Spanish capital, his standing in Cardiff will never be questioned as Wales are on the cusp of their first World Cup campaign thanks to his exploits.

And before he decides on his next move, the tempting prospect of playing his club football in his beloved country has been teased. A move to the Championship outfit remains unlikely given his whopping current salary, but Bluebirds boss Steve Morison has claimed the club would be more than willing to listen if he opened up talks.

“Who wouldn’t be? Is there anyone who wouldn’t be a willing listener?!” Morison said in his pre-match press conference: “I’m not going to go and get Gareth Bale’s number and call him and say, ‘Oh, by the way, do you want to come to Cardiff?’

“It’s an absolute no-brainer. It would be great. It would be a huge boost for everyone. But if it happened, he would have to come and be part of the change. He would have to come and adapt and buy into it.

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“I’m sure if something like this happened, he and I would have a chat because there would be a lot to talk about. One of them would take care of it [the press] don’t find out!”

Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett has already confirmed the winger will move at the end of the season and claims he deserves special recognition from the club he joined for £85million almost a decade ago.

“Bale deserves a great farewell from the club. And no, we haven’t decided on the future yet,” he told Spanish TV channel Deportes Cuatro last month. Barnett then countered his client’s critics by suggesting that he had not adjusted to life in the Spanish capital.

For all his impressive exploits, Bale remains a hugely controversial figure at the Bernabeu and was booed around the corner when he made his first appearance at the stadium in almost two years on April 9 when he played against Getafe.

“He speaks Spanish. What happens is people who don’t know him say he doesn’t. Stupid and ignorant people who didn’t talk to him. It’s a shame,” Barnett added.

“He has always been very happy in Madrid, he arrived as a young man, his children were born in the city, he has donated a lot of money to Spanish hospitals for Covid (reported £400,000) and he loves the city and the clubs and I think , the parasites are the ones who speak ill of him.