Gareth Bale has ignored Theo Walcott’s texts tempting him to Southampton

Gareth Bale is a man in demand.

The Southampton Academy product will be a free agent in the summer transfer window once his Real Madrid contract expires at the end of June.

Bale, who captained Wales to confirm their second-ever appearance at a FIFA World Cup, due to take place in Qatar later this year, is said to be willing to take a major pay cut and is being linked to various teams in the Premier League, Championship and MLS.

Theo Walcott spent five seasons with Bale in the Southampton Academy and after making his return to St Mary’s, he’d like to see his former teammate make a similar move back to the South Coast.

However, the former England international isn’t so sure about Bale’s intentions after the five-time Champions League winner left his texts ‘on read’.

“I’ll be honest I’m not the man to answer that,” Walcott told talkSPORT when asked about Bale’s footballing future. “I’d love him [at Southampton] of course, but there’s a lot of teams [interested] of course, it’s Gareth Bale.”

“He’s actually ignored my message the other day so I’m not really please about that - unless he’s changed his number, I don’t really know.”

We’d love to see Bale back where it all began. Let’s hope it’s Walcott just being coy on the details of Bale’s triumphant return to Southampton. (we can dream)