MOVE ON GARETH, FORGET THE CASH
GARETH BALE is digging in for a battle with Real Madrid and Zinedine Zidane. Club and coach want Bale gone as part of a significant rebuilding project. Bale, who has three years left on his contract, wishes to stay. He will fight for his place and, if that means seeing out his contract without playing, this is a risk he will take. Yet what would be the point? Bale is 29 and can still be a game-changing player. Does he really want to see out his final years in relative exile? As Danny Drinkwater discovered at Chelsea, the reserve squad can be a very lonely place when a manager has made up his mind. Bale is too good to enter the equivalent of early retirement and if the stumbling block is financial, maybe he should lower his sights there, too. He will never be less than an extremely rich man — but precious few years remain when he can play at the top of his game. He should prioritise them while he can. He has more than made his mark at Madrid and if they no longer want him, he should accept it and move on.