Gareth Bale has the whole football world talking after his display in Saturday’s Champions League final with Liverpool. The Welshman, named on the bench by Zinedine Zidane, scored a sumptuous bicycle kick to give his team the lead just after the hour mark, and forced anerror from Loris Karius with a long-range effort. Bale was arguably the difference maker in Los Blancos’ third successive European Cup title, but it didn’t take long for the former Spurs forward to register his dissatisfaction with being left on the bench for the season’s biggest game. Manchester United, who have pursued the player several times, were reportedly seen to be his preferred destination having grown tired off life in the Spanish capital, but Sky Sports’ Guillem Balague is preaching caution when it comes to the subject of a move to Old Trafford.
“There is going to be a meeting between the representatives of Gareth Bale and Real Madrid as he announced himself,” said Balague on Sky Sports in quotes carried by the Express. “But that won’t take place for at least two weeks.
“The message his reps want to send on behalf of Bale is that he wants to feel more important. Not only does he want to start, he wants to be the axis, the focus of Real Madrid’s attacks. To do that, he will have to change Zidane’s mind. So far what Real have said to Bale is that he’s not for sale, but of course the meeting could change all of that.”
One of the biggest factors in Bale’s future could be what happens to his Real colleague, Cristiano Ronaldo. After muttering of his own grievances at full time in Kiev on Saturday, should the Portuguese finally up sticks and leave Spain, that would surely allow Bale to assume the former United star’s mantle and regain his place in Zidane’s starting XI on a regular basis. Should Ronaldo stay put, however, that might accelerate Bale’s thinking, and a move for the Welshman could become more likely.
