Gareth Bale is not in my plans, insists Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti as interest in Spurs forward cools
Real Madrid’s interest in Gareth Bale appears to be cooling after head coach Carlo Ancelotti told club president Florentino Pérez that he did not consider the Tottenham player integral to his plans this season.
Ancelotti’s comments, which are understood to have been made in a meeting with Pérez at the end of the club’s US tour, follow Cristiano Ronaldo’s refusal to publicly endorse the signing last week and a change in public opinion in Madrid.
Real's position could prompt Manchester United to formalise their interest in Bale - who has been ruled out of Wales’ friendly international with Republic of Ireland, despite training with Chris Coleman’s squad on Monday morning - following the Old Trafford club’s failure to prise Ronaldo from the Bernabéu.
United manager David Moyes admires Bale, but the club remain wary of making a formal offer because of concerns over Tottenham’s willingness to sell to them and the lack of encouragement from the Welshman’s camp that he would consider a move to Old Trafford.
When Real Madrid president Pérez, who denies meeting Daniel Levy in Florida last week in an attempt to reach an agreement over Bale, set off with his players on the club’s pre-season tour two weeks ago, the pressure was on him to sign a superstar to counter Barcelona’s capture of Neymar. But, with Real having won six of their seven summer friendlies, the pressure has eased.
Supporters have questioned the wisdom of paying anything more than €70million (£60million) for Bale; players have questioned the need for another expensive acquisition; and now Ancelotti has said his piece.
After Real’s last game against Inter Milan in St Louis, the Madrid coach was asked about Bale. He replied: “Why talk about Bale when Jesé [Rodríguez] and [Alvaro] Morata have both played so well. They are young but incredibly talented.”
That response was in marked contrast to earlier on the tour when Ancelotti had openly talked of negotiations progressing and reflects not only how well the squad are performing just five days ahead of the new season but also the lack of optimism within the club that any prompt resolution can be reached with Tottenham.
Tottenham continue to insist on the inclusion of Morata in any deal but Pérez is under pressure to keep the homegrown players at the club. Angel Di María, another potential makeweight who might have helped the deal go through, has told Madrid he wants to stay in Spain.
Ronaldo has scored six goals in pre-season and he sowed the first seeds of doubt over how well the signing of Bale was being received in the Real Madrid dressing room when he said in a press conference last week: “I have my views but I am not going to share them publicly.”
Ancelotti feels that with Ronaldo, Isco and Mesut Ozil operating behind Karim Benzema he has his first-team front four and that in Morata, Jesé, Kaka and Di María he also has two players for each position.
Bale has done exactly as Real would have wanted by featuring in only one of Spurs’ pre-season friendlies and the feeling in Madrid is still that the player will end up at the Bernabéu but whether the deal happens this summer or next has been thrown back in the balance by Madrid’s form and the two clubs’ inability to come any closer in player valuation.
Bale trained with Wales on Monday ahead of their friendly against Republic of Ireland, but a spokesman for the Welsh Football Association later confirmed he would not play because of injury. Earlier, Ireland assistant manager Marco Tardelli had suggested Bale would risk losing the respect of his team-mates if he did not turn out in the game.
When asked if he expected to be facing the winger, Tardelli replied: “I think he will play, he is a Welsh player and he is the best player in the team. If he wants the respect of the other players he must play.
“He is a very good player, at the moment he is up there with Cristiano Ronaldo and players of that calibre, and we saw this with what he did for Tottenham last season.”
Of the reported £105million transfer fee Tottenham are demanding for the winger, Tardelli added: “Times change but maybe in my time Diego Maradona may have been [worth that much]. I don’t know if Bale is worth that much but if someone pays it that is his value.”
