Zidane on Bale: He is part of my Real Madrid squad and will play

Zinedine Zidane is surprised Gareth Bale remains a Real Madrid player but has vowed to use the Welshman regularly this season.

Bale saw a move to Chinese club Jiangsu Suning collapse in July and looks set to stay at the Bernabeu, despite tenuous links to Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain refusing to go away.

With the European transfer window still open and amid rumours of a falling-out with Zidane, the 30-year-old forward missed Madrid’s previous three friendlies before coming on as a substitute in last weekend’s defeat on penalties to Roma.

Ahead of Saturday’s LaLiga opener with Celta Vigo, Zidane gave Bale his backing and challenged the forward to “make things difficult” for him in terms of his squad selection.

Ready for Vigo! Our last training session ahead of the start of the season!
#RMCity | #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/xJUFDtNEW8

— Real Madrid C.F.