Story By: Juan Mayes, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Golder’s News And Sport

Atletico Madrid star Saul Niguez has defended Welsh winger Gareth Bale’s language skills saying “he speaks Spanish” and “was surprised” at how “nice” he is as a person.

Atletico Madrid star Niguez, 27, made the comments in an interview with radio programme “El Larguero” broadcast by Spanish radio network Cadena SER at a training camp with the Spanish national team in Madrid.

Niguez was asked about any possible encounters he may have had with Bale as they both have the same agent.

Niguez said “yeah, we have coincided once or twice” and went on to say: “The truth is, it was really good. He surprised me a lot.

“We were speaking Spanish, to be honest, he is a really nice guy. It was good.”

The comments surprised the interviewer as Bale, 30, has recently been the target of a lot of criticism for allegedly not speaking Spanish even though he has been at Real Madrid for six years which some fans took as a lack of respect or a lack of commitment to the club.

Bale is currently playing under Ryan Giggs for the Welsh national team as they prepare for their upcoming EURO 2020 qualifying matches.

They are set to play Azerbaijan on 16th November and Hungary on 19th November. If they win both matches, they will automatically qualify for EURO 2020.

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