Real Madrid are reportedly considering the prospect of allowing Gareth Bale to leave the club for free this summer.
Los Blancos are understood to be desperate to offload the Welshman after manager Zinedine Zidane suggested that he was not part of his plans for the 2019-20 campaign.
However, there have been no serious bids for Bale so far this transfer window, while the player himself is intent on seeing out his contract at the Bernabeu.
Recent reports have suggested that Madrid had lowered their asking price to £72m in an effort to entice more interest, but AS claims that they could end up letting Bale leave for free in order to cut their losses.
The Spanish giants would prefer to recoup as much of the £85m transfer fee they paid for Bale in 2013 as possible, having already spent more than £300m on new players this summer.
However, they are increasingly resigned to the fact that Bale's wages and refusal to leave the club make him unaffordable when coupled with their asking price.
The report states that allowing Bale to leave on a free transfer would no longer have a negative impact on their finances and could also enable any interested parties to match or better the winger's current £600,000-a-week salary.
Should the 30-year-old stay for the remainder of his three-year contract then it could cost Madrid another €90m (£81.3m) in wages for a player deemed surplus to requirements by Zidane.
Bale has been linked with a move back to former club Tottenham Hotspur, although those rumours were quickly quashed by his agent Jonathan Barnett.
Barney Corkhill
