Real Madrid have interpreted Gareth Bale's vow to keep on playing as reason to expect him back at their Valdebebas training ground for pre-season training in July. Eden Hazard joined the club that season from Chelsea and the plan was for him to replace Cristiano Ronaldo and form a formidable new trident with Bale and Karim Benzema. But last Saturday, after Wales' defeat to Denmark Bale told Welsh television channel S4C: 'I want to continue to play. Ancelotti recalled being summoned to talk to Real Madrid's president Florentino Perez after Bale's agent had expressed the player's preference for playing more centrally. When he did, he assured Bale that while he did not want to change the way the team was lined up in the middle of the campaign, he would address the possibility of playing Bale more centrally the following summer.

Source: Daily Mail July 04, 2021 18:56 UTC