Jamie Carragher has urged Gareth Bale to turn his back on both Real Madrid's allegedly ungrateful supporters and a "sulking" Cristiano Ronaldo by returning to the Premier League.

Bale joined Los Blancos from Tottenham in the summer of 2013 for a reported €100 million fee and, after some initial injury problems, enjoyed a fine debut season in Spain, scoring a sensational winner in the Copa del Rey final triumph over Barcelona before setting his side on the way to victory with the crucial second goal in the 4-1 defeat of city rivals Atletico in the Champions League final.

However, the Wales international has struggled for form and fitness thus season, resulting in him being targeted by both the press and the Santiago Bernabeu faithful. Furthermore, Madrid's star player, Cristiano Ronaldo, has also looked frustrated at times with his fellow attacker.

Consequently, former Liverpool and England defender Carragher now believes that Bale should leave Spain and return to England, for the sake of his career and personal happiness.

"Gareth Bale would be assured legendary status if he played anywhere else," the retired centre-back wrote inThe Daily Mail . "For his first season alone, he should be guaranteed a lifetime of goodwill.

"A defining goal in the Champions League final? A stunning effort to beat Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final? It stands for nothing if the locals - who love to find a scapegoat - turn on you. And that is what has happened to Bale.

"Watching from the sidelines on Wednesday, as Juventus destroyed Real’s hopes of retaining the Champions League, I saw a player who was timid and lacking confidence. The spark that made him so scintillating to watch had gone.

"To get it back, he should return to the Barclays Premier League this summer. A move home would make sense on a number of levels, not least as while Cristiano Ronaldo is there, scoring a goal per game and dominating the agenda, Bale - no matter what he does, not even after a debut campaign that included 22 goals and 17 assists - is in a fight he will struggle to win.

"Ronaldo does not want to be upstaged and will always be Real’s main man. I don’t know him but I don’t get the sense he is putting an arm around Bale’s shoulder or looking after him in the dressing room. Why? Look at how he sulked when Bale took a goal off him against Levante in March.

"Does Bale have to put up with that? The more Ronaldo sulks when Bale does something he doesn’t like, the more the Bernabeu crowd will react with fury...

"Should he get the chance to come back to the Premier League, he must grab it with both hands. His achievements with Real are there for all to see. Now it would be good to see him playing with happiness again."

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