Gareth Bale is going to make Real Madrid sweat over his future. He doesn't care that the board, Zidane or the supporters want him gone and refuses to give up the three years left on his contract.
Bale has three years to run on his €17m per season deal and doesn't want to lose that, as is his right. He doesn't care if Zidane makes him a backup player in the squad, that the Bernabeu whistles at him, or that everybody wants him to leave.
A major issue is that Bale's price has crashed since last summer. Florentino Perez missed the chance to cash in on the Welshman after his star performance in the Champions League final. That was the moment, as Bale too was open to leaving. However Perez felt differently and pushed Cristiano Ronaldo out of the exit door instead.
€100m for a player who left his mark on football rather than someone who has constantly been questioned ever since he arrived at the club.
Bale was asked to lead this side in Cristiano's absence but he fell into the same traps as before: injuries, playing his own style disconnected from the team and failing to deliver when they needed him the most.
This is someone who is remembered for just two moments across his six years at the club: his winning goal in the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona and his brace against Liverpool in the Champions League final.
Madrid have 81 days to find a solution to their Bale problem. However the high asking price and astronomical wages make finding a buyer difficult. Their only option is to include him in deals for either Christian Eriksen or Paul Pogba but even that appears unlikely. There's even talk in England today of Bale being sent out on loan.