Zidane: "It's ridiculous to think I want Bale to leave in January"
Once again, many of the questions directed at Zidane for his press conference today centred around Bale's situation at Real Madrid
Real Madrid's head coach Zinedine Zidane gave a press conference ahead of the match against Galatasaray at the Santiago Bernabeu tomorrow evening. Here are the main points he covered, most of which focused on Gareth Bale's situation at the club.
Bale out of the squad: “We want the player to be fine. The problem is he isn't ready to train normally yet. So his country selected him, that's their right. It's on the FIFA calendar and we can't get involved. The player wants to be fit. No one can doubt that. He's the first one that this situation is hurting. Let's see what happens this week and then we'll talk about Wales. At the moment, it's a shame he isn't ready yet."
Bale's injury: “No one can get involved in these things. The player has been called up. He needs to go because he's been called up and later we'll see what happens. I would have liked Gareth to have been with us to talk about that but he's still not quite ready. I don't have any doubts that he wants to play for Real Madrid."
Message to the fans: “I want the supporters to know that the first person this hurts is the player. He wants to be with us. If he isn't ready, he isn't going to play over there either. I don't think so anyway. He still hasn't fully recovered but he wants to be with his teammates and play. Our supporters have to focus on the positive. It's ridiculous to think that I want Bale to leave in January."
Personal relationship with Bale: “Yes, I have a good relationship with him. We say good morning to each other every day. I love my players. We can't have the same closeness with everyone but I've never had a problem with him. He's a very good player. You need to stop saying the same things about him leaving before the end of the season. We're all focused on the team."
Signing Mbappé: “He can decide his future and that's what he'll do. At the moment he's a PSG player and let's see what happens in the future. He said that that one day his dream would be to play for Real Madrid."
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