Joe Rodon has roundly dismissed suggestions Gareth Bale could retire following this summer’s European Championship.
Bale sparked wild speculation about his future in the game, after admitting that his decision for next season would “cause chaos”.
The 31-year-old spent last season on-loan back at Tottenham, having fallen completely out of favour at parent club Real Madrid.
He still has 12 months remaining on his huge contract at the Bernabeu but there have been claims the forward is willing to end that early.
Rodon played alongside Bale at Spurs and will now join him as Wales look to replicate their 2016 heroics.
Wales interim boss Rob Page gave retirement claims very short shrift and Rodon has done similar as they make their final preparations for the Euros.
“No chance [he will retire],” Rodon told Sky Sports ahead of their friendly with France. “It’s all on Gareth and I’ve got nothing to do with that, but none of us at Wales want him anywhere near retirement.
“We want him for as long as possible.”
Rodon, who joined Spurs from Swansea last summer, heaped praise on his teammate’s impact both on, and off the pitch.
“He’s been brilliant with me since the first day I walked through the doors at Tottenham,” he added. “He’s just a big kid and he’s brilliant to have around the dressing room and obviously everyone knows what he does on a football pitch.
“But off it, he’s brilliant to have around and he’s a great character in the dressing room.”
Bale meanwhile had two chances to completely dismiss rumours about his future next season, refusing to do so on both occasions.
“Obviously there’s been a lot of things written about whether I’m doing this and doing that,” Bale said earlier this week. “For me, the main thing is I don’t want to say anything that’s going to cause more chaos or more drama or cause a distraction.
“I just want to focus on the Euros. I don’t want to say anything that is going to cause any problems on what I am doing or what I am not doing. When the Euros finishes for us then I will sit down and decide what I want to do.”
Pressed again on his plans, he added: “Yeah, well. It’s one of those. As I said, I’ll sit down after the Euros and decide what I want to do.
“I want to give everything into this Euros and put in everything I can like we do in every single game.
“If I say something then it’s just going to cause even more chaos so there’s no point.”
While he has been in camp with Wales, Bale’s prospects at Real Madrid have taken another twist following Zinedine Zidane’s resignation last week.
The two had a combustible relationship, with the Frenchman relegating him to nothing more than a spectator in 2019/20.
Carlo Ancelotti has since been named manager, offering Bale a chance of a reunion with the manager he helped win the Champions League in 2014.
