Zinedine Zidane has never liked Gareth Bale and the pair have never had a working relationship, the Welshman’s agent has claimed.
Zidane’s attempt to force Bale out of Real Madrid has been the talking point of the summer, with the Welshman’s future still hanging in the balance.
There appeared to have been a breakthrough over the weekend, however, with Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning interested in signing the winger.
But Real Madrid reportedly pulled the plug on the move and now Bale looks likely to stay in Spain.
Bale’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, however, has lifted the lid on the fractious relationship the player and the manager have endured over recent years.
“It’s simple, Zidane doesn’t like Gareth,” Barnett told Le Journal du Dimanche. “There’s no relationship between them. There never has been.”
It is the latest outburst from Barnett, who in recent months has heavily criticised Zidane’s treatment of the 30-year-old. “Zidane is a disgrace,” he told the AFP earlier this month. “He shows no respect for a player that has done so much for Real Madrid.”
Bale looks set to stay at the Bernabeu, whether he will see an improvement in-game time, however, remains to be seen. However, an injury to Marco Asensio, a nasty rupture of his ACL which is likely to keep him out for most of the season, might just have handed Bale a lifeline in the capital.
Meanwhile, Monaco have made clear their interest in signing Real Madrid forward Mariano Diaz this summer.
Diaz, 25, featured in 19 matches for Real last season, scoring four goals, but is likely to be a peripheral figure in the forthcoming campaign.
But the Dominican forward could be offered an exit route by the Ligue 1 side after their manager Leonardo Jardim reportedly told the Monaco hierarchy to sign him.
Marca report that Monaco have already put an offer on the table and it could prove too tempting for Mariano.
He scored twice in Real’s 3-2 win over Villarreal back in May but that wasn’t enough to convince Zinedine Zidane to make him part of his plans.
Mariano hasn’t featured in any of Real’s three pre-season fixtures to date, while his game time at the Bernabeu having returned from Lyon a year ago has been restricted by a hamstring issue. Valencia were linked with a move for Mariano back in May, while AC Milan also enquired about his availability during talks to sign Theo Hernandez.
Tottenham were also linked with a player who performed well in Ligue 1 during his season with Lyon in 2017-18, scoring 18 times.
