Gareth Bale’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, has told Sky Sports that he ‘would love for Bale to play for Arsenal’ but admitted there’s not much chance of that happening.

Ever since he left Tottenham to sign for Real Madrid, the Welshman has been linked with a move away from the club.

He has often been linked with Arsenal but most fans who have any sense just dismissed these rumours out of hand.

Perhaps it’s not quite all as fanciful as it seems on the surface, however.

“He loves his life in Spain. He has three children, and he’s very happy there,” Barnett told Sky Sports.

“But we have to see. He has to play football. (As an Arsenal fan) I’d love him to play there but it’s got as much chance as me going to the moon.”

While that quote could read either way (Bale or the agent is the fan), in 2015 Bale said, “I used to like Arsenal a lot. But when I moved to Tottenham of course I liked them less – but I really admired Thierry Henry and Patrick Viera, those kind of players. They were incredible.”

Bale moved to Real Madrid for £90.9m in 2013 and is under contract until 2022, having signed a new deal at the end of 2016. That means the 28-year-old would not come cheap and is likely to be well outside Arsenal’s transfer budget.

Bale also earns £15m-a-season in Spain. Representing £288k-a-week, Arsenal would not only have to smash their transfer record to sign him, they’d also have pay him around the same amount they pay Mesut Ozil (£15.6m-per-season).

Apart from getting a great player in Bale, Arsenal would also seriously upset Tottenham fans should one of their greatest ever players end up in N5. There are many amongst us who feel that the money needed to land Bale would be money well spent for that reason alone.

Sadly, the people who run the club are unlikely to agree and Bale will never turn out for the club he used to support.

Bale’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, also represents Wojciech Szczesny, amongst others.