Bale won’t feature for Wales, says Real boss

REAL Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has revealed Gareth Bale will not link up with Wales for their upcoming friendlies with France and Panama due to injury.

The Wales talisman has not played for club or country since scoring in Real Madrid’s 3-1 Champions League group stage success against Borussia Dortmund in September.

He missed Wales’ final two World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Republic of Ireland last month but returned to training with Los Galacticos on Friday ahead of his side’s La Liga clash with Las Palmas tonight.

Bale was expected to link-up with Wales having been named in Chris Coleman’s 24-man squad for their friendly matches in Paris and Cardiff later this month.

But Zidane has stated Bale (pictured) is not in contention to play for Los Blancos against Las Palmas, adding that he will remain in Madrid over the international break to continue his recovery from a calf injury.

“Gareth is not called up (to face Las Palmas) and he is not going to go with his national team,” Zidane told Spanish media outlet Marca.

“He has done two training sessions with us and we want him to stay with us so that he can be ready as soon as possible but with Madrid.”

Meanwhile, Wales have accepted an invitation to take part in the China Cup next year for the first time in their history.

They have agreed to take part in the second edition of the competition in March 2018, with the Red Dragons guaranteed to play two matches in the tournament which also features hosts China, Uruguay and the Czech Republic.