Gareth Bale has spoken of his appreciation of the support he receives from Real Madrid's fans, in his first ever Spanish language interview which will be broadcast on Thursday.
Bale, 26, joined Madrid from Tottenham in a €100 million deal back in the summer of 2013, and despite scoring in both the Champions League and Copa del Rey final successes during his first season in Spain he has never really won over all supporters and pundits.
New Madrid coach Rafa Benitez has moved the Wales international into a central No. 10 role this season, something which has reportedly pleased club president Florentino Perez, but not impressed the Los Blancos commentariat.
Bale was whistled during Madrid's final preseason game against Galatasaray at the Bernabeu, and again bore the brunt of fans' frustration after last weekend's 0-0 La Liga opening weekend draw at Sporting Gijon.
Following that game, fellow galacticos Cristiano Ronaldo and James were also said to be "uncomfortable" and "upset" with their less central roles in Benitez's plans. Respondents to a fans' poll on the website of local sports paper AS said they would leave Bale out of their ideal Madrid XI -- with Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, James Rodriguez and Isco taking up the four attacking slots in Benitez's preferred 4-2-3-1 system.
In this febrile situation even the placement of the players in the announcement of Real Madrid's new third kit for the 2015-16 campaign can lead to comment, with the Catalan press pointing out that Ronaldo was relegated to a "secondary position" behind Bale in the latest publicity material released by the club.
Given all the debate, the timing of Bale's first public words in Spanish, two years after his arrival in the country, looks interesting -- and it was the player himself who announced "a little advance of my first interview in Spanish, ahead of the complete interview tomorrow" via his own twitter page on Thursday evening.
Un pequeño adelanto de mi primera entrevista en español, espera la entrevista completa mañana https://t.co/P5u9m6MuCS
- Gareth Bale (@GarethBale11) August 27, 2015
"The fans are good with me, and it is a dream for me to play for Real Madrid," Bale says during the preview piece.
Bale had missed some training earlier in the week with a toe problem, but took a full part in Thursday's session, and looks set to start in Saturday's evening's La Liga clash with Real Betis at the Bernabeu.