ZINEDINE ZIDANE has thrown Gareth Bale’s Real Madrid future into further doubt after admitting he is planning to ‘make changes’ for next season.
Bale has cut an increasingly frustrated figure at the Bernabeu and has been heavily linked with a switch to Manchester United after starting only 18 La Liga games this season.
He was frozen out under former manager Santiago Solari but has forced his way back into the side under Zidane.
However, he continues to be targeted by his own fans and was booed in the 1-0 defeat by neither rivals Barcelona at the beginning of last month.
Zidane revealed he is planning to sit down with Bale to discuss his future but stopped short of giving him any guarantees.
“Gareth’s future and other players, we’ll talk about that at the end of the season,” he said.
“I can confirm that we will have to make changes next season, but now is not the time to talk about it.”
United appear to be Bale’s most likely destination and reports that emerged in early March claimed he has even gone so far as to buy a house in Manchester.
Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be given significant funds to strengthen his squad for next season and is reportedly interested in the Wales winger.
Solskjaer is also tracking West Ham midfielder Declan Rice and Borussia Dortmund sensation Jadon Sancho.
Bale will not be short of suitors having won the Champions League three times since his £89million move to the Spanish capital from Tottenham in 2013.
Chelsea have also been linked but any move will be subject to whether or not they can successfully appeal their two-window transfer ban for breaking rules around signing young players.
Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett appears keen for his client to move after hitting out at the Real Madrid supporters.
Last month Barnett said: “He has been a great player for Real Madrid and in years to come they will be talking about Gareth Bale’s great goals and great achievements for Real Madrid, and to be booed and for the fans to behave as they did is disgusting.
“In general he has been great for the club and for the fans to boo him is absolutely disgraceful. He loves Real Madrid and it must hurt him to be booed. It must.
“If you look back in Real Madrid history, most of – if not all – of their great players were booed. They are very fickle fans.
“Raul, Cristiano Ronaldo, Brazilian Ronaldo, Zidane – they got booed at some stage of their careers and I just think it’s wrong. It’s unbelievable.
“I know how Gareth feels. We have been together since he was a young boy, I know the ins and outs of him very well, and he has been hurt.
“He doesn’t really care about the newspapers and all that sort of rubbish but when his own fans boo him, it does hurt and somebody needed to speak out and say it.”
Source:www.express.co.uk