Gareth Bale has suggested the standard of football he competes at in the build-up to the World Cup does not make "too much of a difference", amid continued speculation over a move to Cardiff City.
The Wales international will end a nine-year spell with Real Madrid and become a free agent at the end of June when his contract expires.
Bale, who helped Wales to their first World Cup qualification since 1958, has been linked with a host of clubs across Europe and the United States.
Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman is said to have flown to the United Kingdom to start discussions with the 32-year-old, attempting to bring the forward back to his hometown club.
Wales coach Rob Page declared a deal with Cardiff would "tick all the right boxes", while the veteran attacker's agent Jonathan Barnett revealed his next move will not be driven by money.
Bale, speaking on Monday before a Nations League clash with the Netherlands, refused to rule out a move to the Championship side as he outlined his plans to discuss his next career move with Page.
"It's something I guess I need to sit down and go through," Bale told reporters at a pre-match news conference.
"Not just with my family, but with the manager here [Page], with the physios here that we use, to see what would give me the best chance of being fit come November and December.
"I don't really know if the standard makes too much of a difference. A football game is a football game.
"I feel like I'll never really lose my quality on the ball. I guess it's a conversation to be had.
"I need time to think what's the best move for me, my family, my kids, and hopefully we'll sort that over the summer. I have options."
Bale won 16 trophies during his time with Madrid but rarely featured in the 2021-22 campaign, in which Los Blancos lifted the La Liga title and the Champions League.
He played in seven of Madrid's 56 matches in all competitions – 13 per cent – with just four of those being starts.
But Bale was still on hand to help Wales to the World Cup in Qatar, their 64-year wait the longest gap between qualification for world football's showpiece tournament.
While Bale's deflected free-kick off the head of Andriy Yarmolenko was enough to secure play-off success over Ukraine, he knows he still has to build his fitness.
"Ideally I would have had more games coming in [to camp] so I would have been even fitter and not had to recover as much as I am at the moment," he added.
"I've been available for quite a lot of the games in Spain. Sometimes you just don't get picked so people assume that you're injured.
"[he next step] is going to be massively important. I need to make sure I'm playing games and I'm as fit as possible.
"Sometimes I'm able to get away with it, but ideally I want to go into a World Cup playing games and being as fit for as long as I can on the pitch."
Kvitova defeats Cirstea to join Rybakina in the Miami Open final
Petra Kvitova is through to her 41st WTA singles final after defeating Sorana Cirstea 7-5 6-4 in Friday's Miami Open semi-final.
Kvitova, 33, already has 29 singles titles under her belt, including eight at the WTA 1000 level. Despite showing she can still compete with the best – making the final at the 2019 Dubai Championships, the 2020 Qatar Open and the 2022 Cincinnati Open, her last WTA 1000 victory came at the 2018 Madrid Open.
Against Romania's Cirstea – who came into the contest with nine wins from her past 10 matches – Czech veteran Kvitova was put on the back foot early as her serve was broken to go 5-2 down.
But she saved two set points, and used that momentum to ignite a run of seven consecutive games, taking the first set and the early break in the second as a result.
Kvitova did not allow Cirstea to produce a single break point opportunity in the second set, winning 75 per cent (21-of-28) of her total service points to slam the door shut.
With the win, Kvitova joined Chris Evert and Serena Williams as the only women to ever reach the Miami Open final after turning 33 years old, booking her place against the hottest talent on the tour – Elena Rybakina – in the decider.
Rybakina has won her past 13 matches, and is looking to become the fifth woman to ever complete the Sunshine Double after eliminating both world number one Iga Swiatek and world number two Aryna Sabalenka to lift the Indian Wells Open title.
'Experience counts for nothing' – Guardiola unsure Man City's title race know-how enough to catch Arsenal
Pep Guardiola "would love to be in the position" of Arsenal in the Premier League title race, saying Manchester City's "experience counts for nothing" as they look to catch the Gunners.
City have won the Premier League in four of the last five seasons, but Mikel Arteta's Arsenal side have enjoyed a brilliant campaign to give them a great chance of winning their first league title since the 2003-04 'Invincibles' side.
The Citizens are playing catch-up with the Gunners holding an eight-point lead at the summit, and though City have a game in hand, Guardiola acknowledged his side's vast experience of winning titles may not be enough to overhaul the deficit.
"I would love to be in the position of Arsenal," Guardiola told reporters. "I'd prefer to be Arsenal in the Premier League than the position we have.
"Eight points is a real advantage. Experience counts for nothing. They will not drop many points.
"You have to prove it every day. The past is the past. [The] reality is people tomorrow don't think about what you've done in the past. You have to show it again and again otherwise you have to retire."
City return from the international break when they host Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, with the Reds sitting sixth after running Guardiola's men to within a point of the title last season.
Asked whether a collapse similar to the one Liverpool have suffered could have happened to City if he had left the Etihad, Guardiola insisted a drop-off of that magnitude could happen to any club.
"I never think this won't happen," Guardiola said. "Teams win the Premier League, year after they drop off. [It] can happen to anyone, Liverpool, Chelsea.
"[You are] always going to try to find a solution to avoid it. If you don't do well it can happen.
"What happened with Liverpool can happen, I don't know why it has not happened to us.
"All I know is what you did yesterday doesn't count for tomorrow."
Guardiola feels the pressure is only ever a couple of defeats away, explaining: "I've lived a fairytale history here in Manchester. We have won a lot and that's why the storm is less. [But the] moment we will lose, the storm will come.
"When you win it's safe, comfortable. When you lose, you have to find the solution, have to figure out why you are not consistent.
"When we didn't win one, two, three games it's normal. You can lose, figure out why it happened. [You cannot] always expect to win all the games for 10 years, it's not the reality."
Stellini insists Spurs not in crisis despite Conte exit
Cristian Stellini insists Tottenham are "not in crisis" despite Antonio Conte's acrimonious exit from the club.
Conte left Spurs by mutual consent last Sunday, a week on from a remarkable outburst after a 3-3 draw with bottom side Southampton in which his side squandered a two-goal lead late on.
The former Chelsea boss labelled his players "selfish" and questioned the club's lack of silverware during Daniel Levy's time as chairman in a tirade that ultimately cost him his job, with assistant Stellini taking charge until the end of the season.
Conte becomes the third Spurs manager to be relieved of their duties since Mauricio Pochettino, who led Spurs to the Champions League final, was sacked in 2019, while the club's wait for a first trophy since 2008 has extended to 15 years.
Managing director Fabio Paratici has also stepped back from his role while the club awaits the outcome of his appeal against a worldwide ban from football following FIFA's decision to extend his initial 30-month ban from just Italian football to a worldwide basis for financial breaches while at Juventus.
Yet Stellini, who is now tasked with overseeing the final 10 games of the season as Spurs bid to achieve Champions League qualification, does not agree the club is in turmoil, despite the Tottenham Supporters' Trust describing it as "one mess after another."
"When you take decisions for the best you are not in crisis," Stellini told reporters.
"If you have some matters, we have to stay compact and we have to stick together to move on and play the matches."
It was an easy decision for Stellini to assume Conte's position until the end of the campaign, with the 48-year-old saying: "I spoke with Antonio. The club and Antonio spoke to each other. They take the decision together and they let me know, I was aware of it.
"They call me and say the decision is taken and if you agree with us, you can do it. I had no problem to say yes."
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