Gareth Bale will 'always be important' to Real Madrid - Zidane
- Published
Bale has had another injury-hit campaign with the Spanish giants
Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane says Gareth Bale "will always be important" to the club, despite leaving him out of three of the last four matches.
Bale was again omitted for Wednesday's 3-1 La Liga win at Leganes, coming on for only the final 14 minutes.
Reports in Spain claim the forward has "run out of credit" at the Bernabeu, and the European champions will try to offload him this summer.
But Zidane said the Welshman is in the process of "getting himself right".
Bale has had another injury-hit campaign in the Spanish capital, missing two months in the autumn with a calf problem.
The 28-year-old has still scored nine goals this season, but has struggled to make an impact in recent weeks and has not been netted in his last six appearances.
Zidane said: "A player always misses out, I am not thinking of one or two but all the players.
"I know that some players are not of interest to you, but there are those that train each day, hardly ever play and I am interested in them.
"I see Bale like all of them and I count on all of them."
Bale has been a regular substitute for Real Madrid since returning from injury
He was also on the bench for the recent La Liga game against Real Sociedad and the Champions League match against Paris St-Germain. Since returning from his calf injury, Bale has featured in less than half the minutes Madrid have played in.
However, he could return to the starting line-up against Alaves on Saturday, with doubts over Marco Asensio's fitness.
Zidane said it was important Bale trained well and stayed focussed.
"I want him to be 100% and I do not want to lose him again", he said, adding he is sure Bale will "go on to play an important role" at Real.