Gareth Bale continues to strip the daisy of his future, without clarifying what he expects from next season, placing everything at the end of the Eurocup for Wales. So, he says, he will reveal what he intends to do: “I don’t think about any of that until after the Euro Cup. I’m not thinking about my future. When it’s over, I’m sure I’ll have a conversation and we’ll see from there.” But, at halftime, what Bale is doing is seducing his new Real Madrid coach, Carlo Ancelotti, with a view to a future in which they reunite.
Because Bale has a contract with Madrid until June 2022 and he knows that it is difficult for him to leave on loan again. The crisis caused by the coronavirus has decimated the accounts of all the clubs in Europe and their salary of 15 million net per course is a major impediment. In the campaign that has just ended, he was able to go to Tottenham, with Madrid paying half his salary to see him play for another team, and he achieved 16 goals in the moments he had. But his idea is to fulfill his year of contract playing for Madrid and then make a decision, which could range from returning to England to retirement.
Bale arrived at Madrid in 2013 and his first two seasons with the white team were under Ancelotti. In fact, they are the two in which the white team has given the best performance (in addition to 2017-18, in which despite being a substitute many times he accumulated great numbers and ended up making a double in the Champions League final): 39 goals and 31 assists in 92 games. Very remarkable statistics, in a team in which all the offensive flow ended in the figure of Cristiano. Now Bale faces Ancelotti again and knows he has a golden opportunity to guide his career after years of lurching.
“I know Carlo, he is a great coach. I get along quite well with him, we had good times in the past. But I have not spoken with him at the moment.”Bale said Friday from the Wales rally ahead of the Euro. Later, he insisted on the compliments: “He’s a great guy, we had an incredible time with him. I’m sure it will be great to have him in charge. We saw each other in a game against Everton, we hugged and talked for a while, it was a good talk. We will have a conversation after the Euro, for sure. I get along really well with him”.
Words in accordance with the choice of Madrid for the bench and that correspond to those that Ancelotti said in his presentation as a new white coach: “He has not played much in the Premier, but he has scored many goals. It was very effective in the last games, when it has had continuity. I know him well. If he has the motivation to play, he can have a great season, I have no doubts “. So, everything comes together so that Ancelotti and Bale go back to work side by side; The Italian is also aware that he is arriving in a Madrid very different from the one he knew. In its two seasons, Madrid scored 322 goals, an average of 161 per year; This past season, the white team did not exceed 88 goals in all competitions, just over half.
Bale-Ancelotti, problems of the past
And that the past of Bale and Ancelotti hides an unpleasant episode, which the Italian included in a book he wrote while coaching Bayern: “The general director called me on the phone and told me that the president wanted to speak to me. When I went to his office, he told me that Bale had called him. I had replaced him on January 4 (2-1 at Mestalla). The agent de Bale had complained because Gareth wanted to play in the center. The president told me what he planned to do and this was my answer: “Nothing.” He couldn’t change the system mid-season. Since then, the relationship with the president has not it was the same again. “
While it is true that Ancelotti always blamed Bale’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, for that to a greater extent than the Welshman, although he also took a pinch: “I don’t talk to agents, I avoid them. Bale is a world-class player and I was just trying to help him understand his strengths so he could reach his potential. And by the way, I was more qualified than his agent or the president to help him out with that.. So I spoke to Bale the next morning. I told him that I knew that his agent had gone to the president. “Why didn’t you come to talk to me about what you wanted?” “Yes, OK, no problem,” he replied. I was clear with him. I told him we could try a position change in preseason, but not now. It was not time to change the scheme. It did not make sense”.
Bale has also received recent comments from another former coach of his, José Mourinho, who trained him during this 2020-21 season until the Portuguese was fired at Tottenham. Mou always had a weakness for Bale, he tried to recruit him for Manchester United years ago and this season he was finally able to take him to Tottenham, although it did not give him a leading role. Yesterday, in an interview, Mou pointed out that with Wales he must take a step forward if they want to do something in this Euro Cup: “When we see Bale, we think about how many great games he has made, how many goals he has scored against the best teams … Not many, or none. They have the pride, the group, the organization. They know how to generate situations so that their best men in attack do damage. “
