Bale will be in Real Madrid squad for final day, Zidane confirms

Gareth Bale will be in the Real Madrid squad to face Real Betis on the final day of LaLiga, Zidedine Zidane revealed, but Los Blancos’ head coach made no guarantees about giving the Wales international what could be his final appearance for the club.

With speculation over Bale’s future rife at the end of his worst season at Santiago Bernabeu, Zidane remained tight-lipped over the 29-year-old’s future but admitted there would be comings and goings to revamp a squad that failed to mount a serious title challenge.

Bale was not involved as Madrid slipped to a 3-1 defeat at Real Sociedad last weekend, nor the 3-2 victory over Villarreal on May 5, with his most recent appearance coming in a 1-0 defat at Rayo Vallecano on April 28.

“He will be in the squad and that’s the only thing I can tell you,” Zidane told a news conference ahead of Sunday’s home clash with Betis.

“I can’t tell you anything else. It’s the end of the season and there will be changes, but I don’t know what’s going to happen.

“I don’t know whether it is his final game. We’ll see.”

The team begins to prepare for the match against @RealBetis_en.#HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/hbFAzeWmoE

— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) May 15, 2019

Zidane was asked about the possibility of Antoine Griezmann switching allegiances after the France star announced he will be leaving Atletico Madrid at the end of the season.

Barcelona are thought to be frontrunners in the race to sign the World Cup-winning forward, but Zidane did not rule out the possibility of a move for Griezmann – despite transfers between Atletico and Real being historically very rare.

“It is not something we have to discuss,” said Zidane.

“You have to ask the player what he says. He’s decided he’s leaving, so you should ask him where he’s going to go.

“In football, anything can happen at any time. Players can go from one side to the other. But I’m not going to get into that at the moment.”