{"id":585821,"date":"2021-03-06T04:01:44","date_gmt":"2021-03-06T09:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=585821"},"modified":"2021-03-06T04:20:22","modified_gmt":"2021-03-06T09:20:22","slug":"zidane-does-not-want-gareth-bale-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/03\/06\/zidane-does-not-want-gareth-bale-return\/","title":{"rendered":"Zinedine Zidane Does Not Want Gareth Bale to Return"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/03\/02\/atletico-madrid-extend-lead-in-la-liga-after-real-madrid-stumble\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Real Madrid<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0manager\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/654f4e63\/Zinedine-Zidane?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Zinedine Zidane<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0does not want\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/a58bb1e1\/Gareth-Bale?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Gareth Bale<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to return at the end of the season,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/tottenham-hotspur-fc\/transfer-news\/zidane-madrid-gareth-bale-tottenham-19979612\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">according to Football.London.<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0The Frenchman has seemingly made up his mind and will not be swayed, even if the 31-year-old maintains his current form with\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/03\/03\/tottenham-hotspurs-opportunity-consecutive-wins\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Tottenham Hotspur.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Zinedine Zidane Unwilling to Allow Gareth Bale Return<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Welshman Starting to Shine in North London<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Welshman struggled for game time in the early part of the season, dropping down the pecking order whilst\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/2b622f01\/Lucas-Moura?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Lucas Moura<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/abe66106\/Erik-Lamela?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Erik Lamela<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/a29b1131\/Steven-Bergwijn?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Steven Bergwijn <\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">all enjoyed consistent spells in Tottenham&#8217;s starting lineup.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Bale is a player who has been mocked in recent years for the amount of time sat on the bench, but has shown great perseverance to force his way back into Jose Mourinho&#8217;s plans.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The 31-year-old has\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.transfermarkt.co.uk\/gareth-bale\/profil\/spieler\/39381\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">scored four and assisted three in his last five appearances<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0and is starting to show glimpses of his former self. The task at hand now is to maintain these numbers in what remains of the season, to give himself the best possible chance in securing whatever the next step is in his career.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Spurs do have the option of extending the winger&#8217;s loan for another year, should that be the best option from both a footballing and financial perspective too.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Real Madrid Return Seems Increasingly Unlikely for Gareth Bale<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Gareth Bale is a big fan of Madrid as a city and he was evidently content with the associated lifestyle, but Zinedine Zidane does not want the Welshman back.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The pair do not have the best of relationships and if football is the motivator, Bale would not be too keen on a return to Real Madrid either.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/tottenham-hotspur-fc\/transfer-news\/zidane-madrid-gareth-bale-tottenham-19979612\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Zidane has previously expressed his admiration for Bale as a player<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0but remains adamant that a return is not on the cards.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Given the fact that Zidane&#8217;s side are under-performing this season, Zidane might not even be in charge come next season, a possible reason why Bale may still have a future in Madrid.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"YV13Fno6QmthPmp7O3t32w\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/1200073435\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'YV13Fno6QmthPmp7O3t32w',sig:'OnYNggGPu_IMYnQvw3-uPAo2PPSEz_ybxTN1wr3Smy8=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1200073435',caption: true ,tld:'co.uk',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Real Madrid\u00a0manager\u00a0Zinedine Zidane\u00a0does not want\u00a0Gareth Bale\u00a0to return at the end of the season,\u00a0according to Football.London.\u00a0The Frenchman has seemingly made up his mind and will not be swayed, even if the 31-year-old maintains his current form with\u00a0Tottenham Hotspur. Zinedine Zidane Unwilling to Allow Gareth Bale Return Welshman Starting to Shine in North London The Welshman struggled [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3580,"featured_media":585831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24,2,6,3,1366],"tags":[154,7675],"class_list":["post-585821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tottenham","category-featured","category-la-liga","category-premier-league","category-real-madrid","tag-gareth-bale","tag-tottenham-transfer-news"],"modified_by":"Dale Ventham, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3580"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}