attends a training session at The Vale Resort near Hensol in South
Wales on August 31, 2020 ahead of their UEFA Nations League
international football match against Finland. GEOFF CADDICK /
AFP
Gareth Bale is “close” to sealing a
sensational move back to Tottenham, the player’s agent Jonathan
Barnett said on Wednesday, seven years after joining the Spanish
giants from Spurs for a world record fee.
The Wales international has been frozen out by Real manager
Zinedine Zidane and said earlier this month he was open to
returning to the Premier League.
Bale twice won Premier League Players’ Player of the Year
during his first spell at Tottenham, which saw him score 56 goals
in 203 appearances and lure Madrid into paying a then world-record
£85 million ($132 million, 100 million euros) for his services.
READ ALSO: Real Madrid Making It ‘Very
Difficult’ To Leave – Bale
When asked about Tottenham’s move for Bale, Barnett told
AFP: “It’s close but not done.” He added: “It’s a complicated
deal.”
Bale has two years left on a contract that pays him around
30 million euros a year at Real Madrid.
Madrid are pushing for a permanent transfer, while Spurs would
prefer a loan move that involves the Spanish champions covering a
portion of the 31-year-old’s wages.
According to reports in England, Tottenham are set to pay £13
million of Bale’s salary for a year-long loan.
Bale joined Madrid the summer that Jose Mourinho left the
Spanish giants, but the Tottenham manager said he had tried to sign
him during his spell as Real boss.
“I tried to sign him during my time at Real Madrid and the
president followed my instinct and knowledge and the season I left,
he brought Gareth to the club,” Mourinho said in a press conference
on Wednesday. “That’s no secret and Gareth knows that.”
Turbulent relationship
Bale has won the Champions League four times, scoring in
the 2014 and 2018 final, and won two La Liga titles at Madrid, but
his time at the club is largely viewed as an expensive failure in
Spain.
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League football match between Valencia CF and Real Madrid, at the
Mestalla stadium in Valencia, on December 15, 2019. JOSE JORDAN /
AFP
Real president Florentino Perez’s plan for Bale to
take over the mantle as Madrid’s talisman from Cristiano Ronaldo
never materialised as his role has significantly reduced under
Zidane since Ronaldo left the club two years ago.
Bale started just one match when the 2019/20 season resumed
after the coronavirus hiatus and caused a stir with his behaviour
while he watched on in the stands.
The winger still has an emotional attachment to Tottenham after
joining the club from Southampton as a teenager, where he developed
from a left-back into one of the world’s most exciting
forwards.
Former Spurs boss Harry Redknapp, who managed Bale for
four years at Tottenham, said he would bring “that little bit of
magic” to Mourinho’s side, who lost their first game of the Premier
League season to Everton.
“It would be a fantastic signing for the club,” Redknapp
told BBC Radio Wales. “It would be great for Gareth to get
back playing again. He’s such a talent, such a great player. It’s a
waste to see him not playing.”
Bale’s return to playing regularly in the Premier League would
also be a boost for Wales manager Ryan Giggs with Euro 2020 to come
at the end of the season.
Tottenham are also close to completing the signing of Real
Madrid left-back Sergio Reguilon for around 30 million euros.
Reguilon enjoyed an excellent season for Madrid in 2018/19 but
Zidane sent the 23-year-old on loan last year to Sevilla, where he
helped them finish fourth in La Liga and win the Europa League.
A buy-back clause is expected to be inserted into the deal,
which would allow Real to re-sign Reguilon from Spurs in the next
two years.
AFP
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