BALE:I’LL STAY ON REAL BENCH
Wales superstar tells Giggs he’s NOT going to quit Madrid despite fears his time as sub is leaving him looking very rusty for Wales
GARETH BALE has told Wales boss Ryan Giggs he intends to stay at Real Madrid even if his lack of games leaves him rusty for the Euros.
Bale continues to have a cool relationship with Real boss Zinedine Zidane who tried to force him out last summer.
He didn’t feature for Real in any of their last seven games. His previous appearance was on June 24 as he made just his 12th La Liga start en route to the club’s latest title.
Bale’s behaviour as an unused sub on the bench in their subsequent games was heavily criticised. In the 2-0 win over Alaves, he was seen wearing his face mask over his eyes while reclining in his seat.
He looked similarly disinterested days later during the 2-1 win in Granada, at one point using a roll of wrist tape as a telescope while up in the stands. Bale was later a peripheral figure in
Real’s title celebrations with the trophy.
But Mirror Sport understands that Wales’ record scorer has no plans to quit. He continues to stand his ground after a proposed free transfer to Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning on a three-year deal worth £1million-a-week was aborted by Real a year ago.
Bale remains on a mega contract worth over £600,000-aweek which runs until 2022 and is very settled with his family in
Spain. He has enjoyed a trophyladen spell at Real, winning four Champions Leagues since joining from Tottenham in 2013 for a then world-record £86million.
But he has still been regularly criticised with former Real striker Predrag Mijatovic claiming Bale preferred: “Wales, golf, Madrid in that order.”
Bale infuriated Real fans when Wales qualified for the Euros as he was seen holding a banner with that slogan on it (left).
But Bale, who turned 31 this month, is idolised in Wales where he eclipsed Ian Rush as their record scorer with 33 goals in 83 games for his country.
He played a starring role in their run to the Euro 2016 semifinals.
But his latest stance could leave the attacking ace short of match practice ahead of Wales’ appearance in next summer’s rescheduled Euros.
Last summer Bale struggled in back-to-back losses in Croatia and Hungary in June after being starved of first-team action in Spain.
Boss Giggs admitted he lacked sharpness after he missed a great chance in Budapest after six weeks without a game.