Gareth Bale could opt to stay at Real Madrid and outlast Zinedine Zidane at the club, says The Transfer Show's Dharmesh Sheth.
Bale looked to be set for a move to Chinese Super League side Jiangsu Suning, but the deal fell through.
The Welshman has been left out of Real's squad for the Audi Cup which gets underway in Munich on Tuesday, but Sheth believes that Bale may choose to wait for Zidane to leave the Bernabeu.
"I'm just wondering whether Gareth Bale is now looking at it and thinking that he's going to stay at Real Madrid, he's still under contract, the average tenure of a Real Madrid manager is 18 months," he told The Transfer Show.
"Does he think that he could outlast Zinedine Zidane for a second time?
"He's done it once before, can he do it again? Don't rule out Gareth Bale staying, biding his time, seeing how it goes at Real Madrid, and then moving on."
Jiangsu Suning signed Ivan Santini from Anderlecht on Monday, all but ending the possibility of Bale joining the club, with the Croatian striker taking up the foreign player spot previously held back for the Real winger.
With it looking unlikely that any European clubs would be able to afford the 30-year-old and his wages, it seems as though the saga will rumble on until the window closes.
"Zidane has been very public with what he wants to do, he says it's time for Bale to go," Sheth added.
"But then he's picked him on a couple of occasions for pre-season, then had to answer why he's picked him if he's trying to get rid of him.
"I don't think we've heard the last of this one."
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