MADRID: Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has refused to discuss Gareth Bale amid reports the Tottenham Hotspur winger is poised to join the nine-times European champions for a world record fee.
Bale’s move to the Spanish capital has been widely flagged in Spanish and British media and is said to be worth 99m euros, eclipsing the price of around 95m Real paid Manchester United for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009.
Photographs of Bale in the Spanish holiday resort of Marbella appeared in local media yesterday, prompting speculation he will be presented at Real’s Bernabeu stadium on Tuesday or Wednesday.
At a news conference yesterday previewing today’s La Liga game at Granada, Ancelotti was asked where Bale might fit into his team.
The Italian laughed and said he had not thought about it as he had “other problems at the moment”.
“I understand it’s a very interesting issue for everyone but I can’t say anything because he is not a Real Madrid player right now,” he added. “I am sorry but I can’t reply.”
Quizzed later by British journalists, he said there were two reasons why he did not want to discuss the issue publicly.
“First of all because Gareth Bale is not a Real Madrid player at this moment,” Ancelotti said.
“The second because I need to have respect for my players and we are focused on our game tomorrow.”
Ancelotti also responded to criticism from Barcelona’s new coach Gerardo Martino about Bale’s price tag.
Martino said spending that amount of money on a soccer player would be “out of place in the current economic climate” and “a lack of respect to the world in general”. “They were words I didn’t understand,” Ancelotti said.
“He (Martino) has not been here for long and he still doesn’t understand how European football works.” REUTERS
