It appears Gareth Bale has no plans of following Alvaro Morata and James Rodriguez out of Real Madrid this summer.
“It’s a ridiculous, stupid story,” Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett told the BBC, following reports that Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane wouldn’t promise Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo that they’d staying with the club this summer.
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Of course, these prompted counter reports that Manchester United could take advantage of possible instability at the Santiago Bernabeu and swoop in for Bale, but it seems that Bale is not for sale.
Bale played just 27 times for Real Madrid last season in all competitions, scoring nine goals with three assists while dealing with multiple injuries. His entire career at Real Madrid in fact has been plagued by injury, but ahead of a World Cup year with Wales still in contention for a spot in Russia, Bale will be extra motivated to stay fit this season.
Here’s some more transfer rumors from around the world:
Sanchez claims sickness, could miss first training session of new season
Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez posted a picture of himself on Instagram Friday with the caption “sick” and a sad facial expression, potentially putting his return to Arsenal training in doubt.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said earlier this week that Sanchez and teammate Shkodran Mustafi would begin training for the new season this Sunday, with both players missing out on the annual Emirates Cup. However, Sanchez’s alleged sickness could delay his return to the field.
Sanchez has been the subject of numerous transfer rumors this summer, with links to Bayern Munich and Manchester City. The hard-working Chilean has been mum about his future all summer and while all signs point to him staying with Arsenal at this point, there’s still plenty of time left in the transfer window to turn his head, if a team approaches Arsenal.
Even with Alexandre Lacazette coming in, it would be a huge loss for the Gunners if Sanchez did leave the club.
Torino place heavy price on Belotti
Torino striker Andrea Belotti has garnered plenty of transfer interest this summer, but interested parties will have to pay up if they want to sign him this summer.
Torino coach Sinisa Mihajlovic confirmed that it would take a bid of at least $117.5 million for Torino to sell Belotti, despite plenty of transfer rumors over a potential move to AC Milan. Belotti had also been a target of Manchester United and Chelsea before the pair signed Romelu Lukaku and Alvaro Morata, respectively.
Belotti finished third in Serie A with 26 goals and while an in-form striker, he doesn’t appear to be worth anywhere close to $117.5 million.