Gareth Bale will start Cardiff return on the bench with Real Madrid future in doubt… so, will Spanish giants' move for Kylian Mbappe mean Manchester United make a bid for Welsh forward?

• Real Madrid transfer news: All the latest from the Bernabeu 
• Gareth Bale will start the Champions League final in Cardiff on the bench
• The Real Madrid superstar has been out with an ankle injury since April 23 
• Bale will hope to prove his worth as Real eye Monaco striker Kylian Mbappe
• Manchester United could bid for Bale if they miss out on Antoine Griezmann
• Latest transfer news: More from across Europe 

Champions League destiny is beckoning Gareth Bale once more. 

It will have to beckon him from the bench, but the fact that it now seems certain he will not start the final has not affected the sense around the Real Madrid squad that he could still be decisive at Cardiff on Saturday.

'The man for all finals' Luka Modric called him this week. With Juventus coming into the final with the best defensive record in the competition, it may take a dramatic late intervention from Bale against a tired defence to unlock the opposition.

If he does have the last word on this year's final it will be special not just because it will come in his home town or due to the fact it will give him his third decisive role in a Champions League final.

But it will all but silence the mutterings around Madrid that the club should now be looking to Kylian Mbappe for the future even if that means at Bale's expense.

Such has been Real Madrid's growing interest in Mbappe that Manchester United's long-running pursuit of Bale has been boosted in recent weeks. 

With Atletico Madrid's transfer ban making signing Antoine Griezmann more problematic, they are likely to redouble their efforts to persuade Bale the time is right to come back to the Premier League.