Zinedine Zidane has refused to be drawn on Gareth Bale's future at Real Madrid following his latest omission from the matchday squad.
The Wales international was left out of the Real Madrid squad on Sunday afternoon as Zidane saw his side battle hard to secure a valuable 3-2 win at home to Villarreal.
A brace from Mariano and a strike from Jesus Vallejo earned the three points for Real Madrid as they look to finish their domestic season on a high having secured Champions League qualification.
Karim Benzema missed the match through injury, but even with his absence there was no place for Bale in their 18-man squad for the match at the Santiago Bernabeu.
When asked about his team selection for the game Zidane refused to specifically speak about Bale, but cast his future into further doubt by not selecting him.
“I’m the coach, I have to pick the team and that’s all there is to it,” Zidane said of his decision to leave Bale out in quotes published on the club’s official website.
“You can interpret it as you wish. I need to pick a squad of players and some are going to miss out.”
United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has long been an admirer of Bale, however MEN Sport understand the club would prefer to target young homegrown talent in the summer transfer window.
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