Giggs’ delight at Bale return to first-team action at Real
RYAN Giggs has expressed his delight at Gareth Bale forcing his way back into the first-team reckoning at Real Madrid following his failed move to China.
Zinedine Zidane openly stated that he was keen for the Welshman to leave the Spanish capital in the summer.
Bale was on the brink of a £1m-a-week move to Chinese Super League outfit Jiangsu Suning, although the switch collapsed at the final hurdle.
The 30-year-old pulled out of his side’s pre-season trip to Munich following his failed transfer to China, although he has since returned to action with the La Liga giants and played in his side’s 3-1 win over Celta Vigo last weekend.
And Giggs has revealed he kept in touch with Bale during the course of his turbulent summer on the continent.
“I’m really pleased with the situation at the moment and looking forward to him meeting up,” said Giggs.
“You can’t take anything for granted in football because it can change quite quickly.
“You can be on top of the world and then get an injury or miss a chance and then it turns. Or viceversa. You can go through a bad time and then score a fluke goal and everything turns around.
“I kept in touch with him, not every day, but just to see if he was all right. It’s obviously positive at the moment.
“He played at the weekend and did really well and it looks like he’s staying now.
“I’ve always said he’s at a fantastic club, but probably a couple of weeks ago we wouldn’t have seen this situation.
“It was a strange situation, but hopefully now it’s sorted out, Gareth stays and he plays games.”
Giggs admits Bale’s situation in Spain “didn’t quite look right” in the summer, with fans and the Spanish media among those to turn on the Welshman. But the 45-year-old is pleased that Bale’s plight at club level has now been resolved.
“Everyone thought it didn’t quite look right but now it looks like they have sorted their differences out and he’s playing,” he added.
Hennessey (Crystal Palace), Ward (Leicester), A Davies (Stoke), C Roberts (Swansea), Gunter (Reading), Mepham (Bournemouth), J Lawrence (Anderlecht), Lockyer (Charlton), Rodon (Swansea), Taylor (Aston Villa), B Davies (Tottenham), Ampadu (RB Leipzig, on loan from Chelsea), Allen (Stoke), Smith (QPR, on loan from Manchester City), Vaulks (Cardiff), J Williams (Charlton), Ramsey (Juventus), Morrell (Lincoln, on loan from Bristol City), Wilson (Bournemouth, on loan from Liverpool), James (Manchester United), Bale (Real Madrid), Vokes (Stoke), T Lawrence (Derby), Woodburn (Oxford, on loan from Liverpool), Moore (Wigan), Hedges (Aberdeen).