“If it's tomorrow, better.” Have passed 416 days since Zidane will speak in Houston that phrase before the apparent imminence of departure by Gareth Bale of Real Madrid. It was far from being a prophetic sentence. That morning never came. Today, more than thirteen and a half months later, the Welsh To return to to get to French coach orders to start a new preseason as a madridista.
And he will do it after having been again at the epicenter of the controversy during the selection window. Asked about his future by Sky Sports, Bale threw the ball several times to the Real Madrid roof. “I think the club needs to answer that question because I tried to leave last year and the club blocked everything at the last second”; “There have been other cases where we tried to go but the club did not allow it nor did he do something to make it soto “,” in the club they have control of everything “,” is in the hands of the club but they make things very difficult to be honest “;” the decision is in the hands of Real Madrid “.
Wales coach Ryan Giggs allowed himself to throw a dart at Zidane: “I have not spoken with Zidane, my French and Spanish are not very good; and I know from experience that Zidane's English is not very good”. It was his way of getting out of the way when asked about the situation by his star, whom he describes as a committed player as he is not seen with Madrid: “The way Gareth takes care of himself, gets focused and looks forward to playing has never been a problem until now.” He only hinted at a crack when he spoke of his presence at the Euro. “If it becomes a problem in six months, we will have to see it.”
Discarded the signings, the Operation Exit has become the focus of white labor in the market. And there, the most complicated, was and still is Gareth Bale's, which has become entrenched as the great sporting and economic problem (the net 15 million euros it charges are a slab in some accounts that are shaking by the coronavirus) of the entity.
The claim that Zizou expressed in Texas, encouraged by the interest of the Chinese Jiangsu Suning, did not work and the Welshman stayed one more campaign in Madrid. Zidane renewed his vote of confidence in the player several times, but Bale was exhausting his credit. He has not scored in the league for more than a year (since his double at Villarreal on September 1, 2019, although later he scored Unionistas in the Cup), the dedication he puts into green Golf fades when the grass has goals and he was erased from Manchester 'a la James' after not playing even a minute in the last seven days of the League (he only played 100 minutes in two games after confinement).
While waiting for that morning that 416 days later still does not arrive, this Tuesday Zidane will again have Bale face to face in Valdebebas.
The return of 7 internationals leaves Zidane with 24 players
Zidane receives a new batch of players to continue the work of the second week of this atypical preseason. Ramos, Carvajal, Reguilón, Lunin, Bale, Kroos and Jovic must rejoin the team on Tuesday, unless the result of the PCR says otherwise. With them they will be 24 footballers that Zinedine Zidane has at his disposal, which will increase to 27 when Varane, Mendy and Hazard join on Thursday after the commitments that France and Belgium have tonight against Croatia and Iceland respectively.
Of those 27, in four cases the club is working on finding their destination in the Operation Exit. Reguilón and Mayoral are the cases that, priori, have fewer complications. It does not seem that the sprained ankle he suffered on Sunday with the National Team will prevent the winger from finding a team, with United as the highest bidder. The forward, for his part, awaits the interest of Valencia. Without them two, the squad would already be at the 25 available chips. More difficult, however, is the situation of Bale and Mariano, without feasible prospects. James, whose transfer to Everton was closed last night, has not even reached Valdebebas this preseason.