Real Madrid star Gareth Bale's agent says there was never any prospect of the forward joining Manchester United in the summer and added that the Wales international could end his career at the Bernabeu.
United tried to sign Bale when he made his world-record £85 million move to Madrid in 2013 and have retained an interest in the former Tottenham player ever since.
However, agent Jonathan Barnett was adamant Bale did not come close to a move this summer, saying at Soccerex in Manchester: "No, not at all. He was nowhere near leaving -- that was all stupid paper talk."
Bale has scored 41 goals in 94 games for Real, winning the Copa del Rey and the Champions League in 2014, but he came in for criticism in Spain last season.
United are expected to make another attempt to buy Bale next summer, but Barnett said: "He is very happy at Real Madrid and hopefully he will stay there for the rest of his career.
"He's loving it there and things are going well for him."
Bale became the most expensive player in football history when Real bought him and Barnett, citing the fact that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are older than the Welshman and are unlikely to move, expects him to retain that title for a while longer.
"You have Ronaldo, who is getting to the end of his career, and Messi as well,'' he said.
"In Spain they have clauses which come out and state how you much you have to pay so at the moment he is the most valuable and it will be a while before someone breaks it."
Barnett was also asked about the botched late move Madrid made for Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea.
Despite having an interest in the Spain international for several months an offer was not accepted until the last day of the widow and due to some administrative hiccups the paperwork was not completed in time.
That led to conspiracy theories suggesting Real had done it on purpose in order to sign the goalkeeper for free when his contract expires next summer but Barnett thinks there is a move obvious explanation.
"It is a complete mess up," he said. "I don't think there is any Machiavellian plot, I just think someone has made a stupid mistake.
"It is the boy who suffers. I don't know who is to blame but it is certainly not the player."
Barnett also criticised the transfer system as it currently stands, having advocated an abolishment of the windows to make an all-year market.
"These people who made the rules -- which I think are completely illegal -- they don't know what they are talking about," he said.
"FIFA read headlines and think our main job is to go out and broker a deal for a club. I don't know who those rules are made for but they are not made for football agents because they really don't know what we are doing for a living.
"There is no dialogue and they come up with the most ridiculous things."
Information from the Press Association was used in this report.