Gareth Bale's agent Jonathan Barnett insists the Wales international was never close to leaving Real Madrid this summer and he hopes to remain at the Bernabeu for the remainder of his career.

Manchester United were linked with the 26-year-old but Barnett dismissed the rumours.

"He was nowhere near leaving - that was all stupid paper talk," he said.

"He is very happy at Real Madrid and hopefully he'll stay for the rest of his career. "He's loving it there and things are going well for him."