Zinedine Zidane’s departure has handed Gareth Bale the opportunity to remain at Real Madrid, killing off Manchester United’s hopes of signing him this summer, according to the Mirror. 

What’s the story, then?

The Mirror report that the deal for Bale – valued by the Daily Mail at £121m – is dead in the water because Zidane was the one who wanted to maintain Cristiano Ronaldo’s status above the Welshman in the pecking order at the Bernabeu.

They say that Florentino Perez wants to give Bale the opportunity to become a mainstay of the team as he is younger than the Portuguese superstar and Zidane’s departure means that he has won this particular battle.

It also goes on to state that the new man will be appointed with an eye on the future, which includes phasing Ronaldo out.

No Bale is good news for Martial

The arrival of yet another high profile attacker would have been a massive blow for Martial’s hopes of remaining at Old Trafford next season but now that the deal looks dead in the water, he should be handed a reprieve.

Bale may well have been stationed out on the right, while Martial prefers to operate on the left but he would have been the most likely to depart to fund the deal for the Welshman and make space for him in the attacking ranks.

Also, the Bale deal would have been so drawn-out and expensive for a player at the wrong end of his career with injury problems that United have had a lucky escape by missing out too.

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