Zidane dodges Bale questions as ‘ill’ Real Madrid star ‘photographed on golf course’

Zinedine Zidane said Gareth Bale “needs to look after his responsibilities” after the player was allegedly photographed playing golf as his Real Madrid team-mates were on a pre-season tour.

Bale did not travel with the team to Munich for the Audi Cup after the club reportedly pulled the plug on a move to Chinese side Jiangsu Suning, with Los Blancos citing their desire to collect a transfer fee for a player that cost them €100m (£91m/$110m) in 2013.

Zidane had stated that Bale did not travel due to being “too ill”, but a report published by Spanish outlet El Confidential claims the winger had been spotted playing golf during his team’s participation in the pre-season tournament in Germany.

Following Madrid’s 5-3 win over Fenerbahce, the Madrid boss was questioned about the report, but largely gave the wantaway Welshman the benefit of the doubt until he returns to Madrid to speak to the player himself.

Esta era la única ‘preocupación’ de Gareth Bale mientras el Real Madrid volvía a perder https://t.co/fzMu6qfq9b

— El Confidencial (@elconfidencial) July 31, 2019

“Well, we’ll see when we get back. I will not prevent someone from doing something,” Zidane told the gathered press.

“He has to look after his responsibilities. We will see what he has done [when we return to] Madrid. I will not get into his personal life. But I think he has done training.

“I’m here with my players and we will see when we get back. I’m not going to tell him off or that he’s not allowed to do it. He’s old enough to do what he wants.”

Zidane also refused to be drawn into what he saw as a loaded question.

“I will not tell you if it is disrespectful. You are not going to put me in a position that I don’t want to be in. I will not answer anything more than that.”

Real put the breaks on Bale’s move to China after insisting a significant transfer fee should be paid for the 30-year-old, despite the fact Zidane had long-since confirmed the player had no future at the club.

A three-year deal had reportedly been agreed between Bale and Jiangsu that would have seen him earn £1m-per-week (€1.1m/$1.2m), a significant increase on his £600,000-per-week ($729,000/€658,000) Real salary.