Gareth Bale has insisted that he has not made any plans regarding his future at Real Madrid, amid suggestions that the attacker could retire from club football next summer.
The 32-year-old, who is currently on international duty with Wales, has less than one year left to run on his contract with Los Blancos.
Bale has been offered a clean slate at the Bernabeu this term, though, and has been an important player under new head coach Carlo Ancelotti, scoring once in three appearances.
The former Southampton youngster has refused to be drawn on suggestions that this will be his final year at Real Madrid but has insisted that he is not thinking about retiring from the sport.
"I've only just started this year and you're already asking questions! I haven't thought about anything beyond this game [Wales' World Cup qualifier against Belarus on Sunday] to be honest. I'm just thinking about each and every game as it comes. Just trying to enjoy it," Bale told reporters.
"I want to play in a World Cup for Wales, not just for myself, but for the country as a whole. I think it would be an incredible experience for the nation. We're fully focused now on trying to do that with another crucial game. In terms of the caps, I think every player would love to get to 100 caps. I'm very close, and it would be nice if I can get it done.
"Everyone just seems to make up stories when they want. I don't know. They just make up some wild things. I never planned to finish. Like I said before, I just wanted to concentrate on the Euros and didn't want to have to explain myself. I didn't feel like I needed to.
"I still don't feel like I need to, and I think no matter what I said I was going to do, whether it was to stay, leave, retire, whatever, it would have caused a big story. An annoying story, and a distracting story. So I think for me it was better not to say anything and just try to concentrate on the job in hand."
Bale has scored 106 goals and registered 68 assists in 254 appearances for Real Madrid since arriving from Tottenham Hotspur in September 2013.
Matt Law
