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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Marc Mayo

‘I’m not going to Getafe!’ - Gareth Bale tight-lipped on club future but dismisses surprise LaLiga link

Gareth Bale has dismissed the notion of signing for Getafe ahead of next season.

After being released by Real Madrid, the Wales winger’s focus when selecting his next club will be building his fitness for the World Cup, amid reports he could join the LaLiga club to prolong his stay in the Spanish capital.

“For sure it influences it, I just want to be playing going into the World Cup as fit as I can,” he told reporters on Friday.

“Hopefully I can enjoy my holiday and then decide where I want to be and what I want to do, to try and be playing games to be as fit as I can for the World Cup.”

When asked if he was on the brink of signing for a club, he responded: “No, but I’m not going to Getafe, that’s for sure.”

There have been suggestions Bale, 32, will retire from football after the World Cup while a homecoming move to Cardiff has also been touted.

“A club [where] I’m going to play regular football,” he replied when asked what sort of club he was looking for.

“When I get back into playing regular football my body will get a bit more robust - rather than in and out [of the team]. It’s very difficult to get a rhythm in terms of your fitness, your health.

“Any player will tell you that playing week in, week out: your body becomes more robust, you get used to it and fitter. So [I] just need to play games and then good to go.”

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