There’s a huge transition going on in Real Madrid as they appointed Carlo Ancelotti as the new manager after Zinedine Zidane left the club last season.
Ancelotti has previously managed Madrid and is one of the most important managers in Los Blancos history as he won them their tenth Champions League title, “La Decima.”
However, this Madrid squad is a shadow of the one he had in 2014, and the Italian will have to do some wonders to get Madrid back to winning ways. Ancelotti will start by trying to revive one of the best players in his previous stint with Madrid in Gareth Bale.
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The Welshman spent the last season on loan at Tottenham and was brilliant in patches. He was frozen out of the Madrid squad under Zidane and had a very strained relationship with the Frenchman. However, Carlo Ancelotti is a different man, and he is looking at Bale as a new signing.
Gareth Bale has taken the decision to remain at Real Madrid and see out his contract. (Source: AS) pic.twitter.com/QM1J6mYrhS
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) July 20, 2021
Bale is not the only player returning from loan, along with former Arsenal loanees Dani Ceballos and Martin Odegaard, who are also viewed as new signings.
They are all great players, and Ancelotti is planning to use Gareth Bale in a three-pronged attack with Karim Benzema and Eden Hazard.
If he can get all three players firing on all cylinders, Real Madrid will have a world-class attack yet again. Karim Benzema has been in the form of his life in the last two seasons, and with the option of Martin Odegaard or Isco playing behind him in the number 10 role that Ancelotti loves so much, there is some hope at the Bernabeu.
Gareth Bale and his connection with Carlo Ancelotti
Real Madrid signed Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur for a world record fee in 2013. The Welshman finally returned to the North London club last season. He arrived with an injury and hence could only start playing and training in November.
After a slow start, Bale ended up scoring 11 goals in 20 Premier League appearances last term, including five in his last six top-flight games.
He netted another five in other competitions, earning him a scoring rate of one every 104 minutes, compared to Benzema’s one every 129 minutes.
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#OnThisDay in 2014, Gareth Bale scored that goal against Barcelona in the Copa Del Ray!
Look at that pace ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/SZsfW8W5Aa
— Betting Hub (@BettingHub) April 16, 2021
Under Ancelotti, Bale scored 39 goals and assisted 31 more for a total of 70 direct goal contributions in 92 matches and 7,367 minutes.
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That worked out at a rate of one direct goal contribution every 105 minutes. So, the future might actually turn out to be good for Gareth Bale and Real Madrid.