Gareth Bale will not be guaranteed to start every game at Real Madrid despite his enormous price tag, the Spanish club’s assistant coach Paul Clement warned on Wednesday. The Welshman was officially presented as a Madrid player on Monday, after signing from Tottenham Hotspur on a six-year contract for a fee of around £80 million ($124 million, 94 million euros).
However, Clement says that Bale must prove his worth if he is to hold down a place in manager Carlo Ancelotti’s team. ‘There’s a lot of competition for places -- no-one will be guaranteed anything,’ Clement told BBC Sport. ‘Coach Carlo Ancelotti has a clear idea how to use him, but things can change.’
‘At Southampton, Bale played at left-back, which he also did at Spurs, where he became a more left-sided player. He recently became more central. He’s got that versatility. ‘It’ll be interesting to see how players fit in together. We’ll be trying to find their best position and what’s best for the team as quickly as possible.