Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale is the talk of the town for his antics over the November international break, but now that he has returned to health, the questions will once again focus on what he can contribute to the club.
Although Gareth Bale has made it clear that his future will not be at Real Madrid, he has shown time after time that he is willing to give his best effort on the pitch. Even if Bale were so upset with the club and manager Zinedine Zidane that he did not personally want to put forth his best effort, from a business perspective, playing at a high level is the only way he can convince a notable club to take on his contract.
Bale is still a world-class forward who can sear defenses with pace, grab goals, and contribute on defense, which would bode well when it comes to fitting in at Tottenham under Jose Mourinho. Spurs may be his best suitor.
But Bale is also 30, has injury questions, and has been more “good” than “great” in 2019-2020 despite recovering most of his form from 2018-2019.
According to MARCA, Bale has returned to training for Real Madrid after making his return from injury to in-game action over the November break for Wales.
This means Bale is healthy enough to play, but it will be interesting to see if he suits up against either Real Sociedad on Saturday or PSG on Tuesday.
Those are two massive games for Real in La Liga and the Champions League, respectively. Bale’s usage in both games could dictate how Zidane plans to utilize him. Bale is a quality player who still holds importance to the squad despite Rodrygo’s emergence and importance, so the Wales international will receive minutes in a rotation with the other wingers.
How Zidane chooses to balance Bale’s Champions League and La Liga minutes will be interesting to monitor, and the next two games could give an early indication of Bale’s role for the remainder of his team with Los Blancos.
Zidane generally takes a measured approach when bringing back injured veterans, especially plays who have an injury history like Bale. Plus with Bale, Real need him to be at full strength in order for him to have transfer value. Of course, they also need him to shine on the pitch at full strength in order to play well enough to entice suitors in Europe’s top five leagues.
Bale’s status for Saturday’s game against Real Sociedad at the Santiago Bernabeu is completely up in the air. This is a critical league game against a sleeper title contender, so Rodrygo should be the first-choice option here.
However, Bale’s inclusion in the squad will be worth monitoring, especially since Lucas Vazquez will miss some time after suffering a toe injury while lifting weights. It would be a shock if he were dropped from the 19-man squad, but it’s unclear if he’ll start – let alone feature at some point.