Zinedine Zidane refused to condemn Gareth Bale after pictures emerged of him playing golf while his Real Madrid teammates were continuing their pre-season preparations.
Bale, 30, has no future in the Spanish capital under Zidane and had looked set to join China Super League side Jiangsu Suning.
However, that deal – and a mega-money £1million-a-week contract – fell through after Los Blancos president Florentino Perez pulled the plug.
Perez decided at the 11th hour that he didn’t want to give Bale away for nothing, thus leaving the Wales international in limbo, unwanted by his manager.
Furious at being denied his move, Bale subsequently skipped the Audi Cup in Munich.
(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
Zidane stated after Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat to Spurs that “Bale didn’t travel with us because he didn’t feel that well.
“The doctors said he was unwell and the best thing for him was to stay in Madrid. He’s training individually in Madrid.”
However, pictures published by El Confidencial appear to show Bale playing golf at the Ciudad Grupo Santander course in Madrid on Tuesday night – when Madrid were losing to Bale’s former club.
Asked about the pictures after Real’s 5-3 third-place win over Turkish side Fenerbahce in the Audi Cup on Wednesday, Zidane said: “I don’t know.
(Image: Getty Images for AUDI)
“You are telling me something that has surely happened. I’m here with my players, and I’m not going to comment on that.
“I hope he trained there. We are here, thinking about the team.”
When asked whether he was bothered by Bale’s attitude, Zidane replied: “Well, we’ll see when we get back. I will not prevent someone from doing something. He has to look after his responsibilities.
“We will see what he has done in Madrid. I will not get into his personal life. But I think he has done training.
“I will not tell you if it (Bale’s professionalism) 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.”
Bale’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, declared last week that the Welshman and Zidane have no relationship.
However, for now, their marriage of inconvenience is set to continue.
