Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon says Gareth Bale needs to slap in a transfer request if he wants to leave.

Bale is being linked with Manchester United.

Calderon reckons Bale could influence his own future by asking to leave.

"I think Gareth Bale will stay at Real Madrid," Calderon told talkSPORT. "As I always say, it's the player who decides whether he leaves or not.

"I don't see Real Madrid selling him now, having paid more than €100m for him. He'll only leave if he says, 'I'm not happy here, I want to leave'.

"That's the only situation I can see him leaving the club. He wasn't the worst player against Juventus, he was unlucky not to score.

"I don't think he's been a failure. He came with a higher transfer fee than Cristiano Ronaldo so people are always going to compare Bale with him.

"They want to see him be better than Ronaldo, to score more goals. It's impossible though.

"It's unfair to say he's failed. Real Madrid are very demanding, they want to win all of the titles every year, but it's impossible."