3 reasons why Gareth Bale's proposed transfer to China collapsed

#1 Real Madrid didn't want to let him leave for free

Bale's transfer would have been for free

So far in this window, Real Madrid have spent in excess of €300m to bring five players to the club. And while they might have gotten some income through the sale of unwanted players, they still have some way to go before balancing the books and funding any other potential buys.

In the current squad, Gareth Bale is one of the more high-profile unwanted players who can bring in a sizable transfer fee if sold off. But his high wages means that no club is willing to bear the cost of both his salary and a transfer fee.

Jiangsu Suning were willing to make Bale the second highest paid player in the world, but this would have come at a cost to Real Madrid.

Financial rules in China obligate the Super League clubs to pay an equivalent amount in taxes once transfer fees exceed a certain threshold. To avoid this pitfall, Jiangsu Suning wanted to make the transfer without any associated fees to Real Madrid.

This was a scenario that seemingly did not sit well with the Real Madrid board as they had hoped to raise some cash from Bale's sale. In the absence of that, they had no option but to renege on the deal.