Gareth Bale ‘tells Wales boss Ryan Giggs he intends to STAY at Real Madrid next season despite Zidane rift’
GARETH BALE has reportedly told Wales boss Ryan Giggs that he intends to stay at Real Madrid next season.
The Mirror claims the 31-year-old has told international team-mates and staff he has no plans to quit Los Blancos even if his lack of games leaves him rusty for the Euros.
Bale continues to have a frosty relationship with Real boss Zinedine Zidane who tried to force him out of the club last summer.
He did not play a single minute of the club’s final seven games as they won LaLiga for a record 34th time.
And the four-time Champions League winner is unlikely to be involved in Madrid’s European second-leg against Manchester City.
Fans joked Bale was trying to injure team-mates by kicking their ankles after the win over Villarreal.
And Dimitar Berbatov slammed him for being “unprofessional” after he was pictured pretending to sleep in the stands and fooling around with makeshift binoculars.
Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett has insisted the superstar will not leave Madrid this summer.
The ex-Tottenham star is seemingly happy to run down his £600,000-a-week contract – which runs until 2022 – on the Bernabeu bench if needs be.
But if his lack of playing time continues next season, it doesn’t bode well for Wales and boss Ryan Giggs ahead of Euro 2021.
Bale is both his country’s record scorer and captain and can not afford to be rusty if the Dragons are to replicate their stunning success in 2016.
Zidane has previously said he and Bale are “united” and that his omission from the final game of the season against Leganes was a “technical decision”.
Yet Toni Kroos claimed that Bale is “still mad” at Madrid for blocking his
The German ace told : “There’s no getting around that the situation is unsatisfying for everyone.
“I believe that [Gareth Bale] wanted to leave last summer in principle and that they signalled a ‘yes’ at first and then not again.
“I don’t know if he’s still a bit mad about that. It’s a difficult subject.”