Gareth Bale has been instructed to sort out his club future - and pronto.
The Wales superstar called time on his nine-year stay at Real Madrid earlier this summer. Since then he has helped his country earn a historic spot at the World Cup later this year in Qatar. Their 1-0 win over Ukraine earlier this month means Wales will be heading to a first World Cup since 1958.
Bale, who turns 33 next month, played a crucial role in helping the side get there and is likely to be the main man once the tournament begins. But with just five months until their opener against the United States, the ex-Tottenham man has been told to sort out his next club.
He is one of a number of Wales players whose futures are unclear, along with Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen.
Dragons manager Rob Page said: "The lads know where they are at but I want my players to have a good pre-season. I'm not overly concerned about it but in an ideal world we want our players playing. Of course we do.
"For us to go to the next level and sustain it then it's important that we need the majority of our players playing week in, week out. "Aaron as well as Gareth are both really important players for us. They turn up in big games and score goals for us."
One of the more left-field links concerning Bale has been reported interest from his hometown club Cardiff City.
The Championship side have been linked with a sensational swoop and Bale did little to kill the rumour off earlier this week when he was directly asked for the first time about the possibility of a move there.
His reaction was to simply smile, before adding: "I can’t really say."
Speaking more broadly about his options for the 2022-23 campaign, he said: "I haven't really thought too much about that. It's something I guess I need to sit down and go through, not just with my family, but with the manager here (Rob Page), with the physios here that we use, to see what would give me the best chance of being fit come November and December.
"I don't really know if the standard makes too much of a difference. A football game is a football game. I feel like I'll never really lose my quality on the ball. I guess it's a conversation to be had."
Reports in France have suggested Cardiff, who finished 18th in the second tier last term, have offered Bale a two-year contract with an option to extend his stay for an additional year.
The biggest stumbling block to that would of course be financially related, with Bale's wage at Madrid said to be in the region of £550,000-per-week.
Bale added: "I don't have a timescale. I need time to think what's the best move for me, my family, my kids and hopefully we'll sort that over the summer. I have options."
