Zinedine Zidane has claimed Gareth Bale no longer wants to leave Real Madrid and will play an important role at the club this season.
Bale, 30, came close to moving to the Chinese Super League this summer only for Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez to pull the plug on the move.
He has since been reintegrated into the Real first-team and has started both of the club’s La Liga matches this season.
“What has changed is that the player wants to stay, nothing more,” Zidane said after the club’s 1-1 draw with Real Valladolid on Saturday,
“What is interesting for us, in the first place, is that the player wants to stay at the club, that is the most important thing.
“Now, there have been a lot of things said about this situation and I have talked about it too, but the most important thing is that the player wants to stay and we are counting on him.
“He is a really important player for us and he has demonstrated that and right now he has to keep doing what he has done.”
