Rafael Benitez: Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema will stay at Real Madrid

Step forward then, Rafael Benitez who has assured us all that Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema are staying put at Real Madrid, despite reported interest from Manchester United and Arsenal respectively.

But when asked about the rumors linking their club to the Real Madrid star, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger denied that there are ongoing talks between them and the Spanish La Liga powerhouse club.

The Wales global has had a mixed two years at the Santiago Bernabeu since his world record £86-million move from Tottenham Hotspur.

It seems that both Modric and Bale will be featured which means they will play against their former club.

“It will be a good test for our squad and I am sure our fans will enjoy this experience too.

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Real take on Tottenham in the semi-final of the Audi Cup on Tuesday, with Bayern Munich and Milan locking horns ahead of a third/fourth place play-off and a final. “I have no reason to think he will go”.

Mauricio Pochettino’s 23-man squad looks to be more geared for their season opener against Manchester United than playing against Real Madrid.

At most it’ll be a patch up job whoever plays as the lone striker however. “He [De Gea] is not our player”, Benitez said.

With Kiko Casilla and Keylor Navas on the books, both veterans feel it would be overkill. Every side would like to have him but I think the manager has already his team made and probably he is not looking for another striker.

Click the yellow arrow above, right, to see which other players’ cumulative valuations make the top ten.

Rafa Benitez will be strict with his superstar Real Madrid players when he needs to be, the man who coached him as a young Madrid player has told AS.