Gareth Bale returns to Valdebebas for the first time in the best part of a year today to begin pre-season training.
The Welshman spent this summer on international duty with Wales at Euro 2020, Robert Page’s men reaching the Round of 16 before suffering a heavy defeat to Denmark.
As with all of the Euro 2020 participants, Bale was then given extended time off this summer, but he returns to the Spanish capital to report for training today.
There have been plenty of rumours about Bale’s future, including talk of early retirement, but as heavily reported in recent weeks, the Welshman will play out the last year of his contract at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The departure of Zinedine Zidane and the return of Carlo Ancelotti looks set to be enough to carve out a fresh start for Bale at Real Madrid.
And it seems Ancelotti is indeed keen to use Bale regularly in the coming season having originally brought the now veteran forward to the club back in 2013.
More must-reads: