Gareth Bale has only just returned to Tottenham after seven years at Real Madrid and agent Jonathan Barnett is already tipping his client to stay in North London beyond his 12-month loan move.
Bale has two years remaining on his deal with Real, but it’s hard to see him turning out for Los Blancos again, so could he end playing his career at Tottenham instead?
Never showed a willingness to integrate in Spain
One of the many criticisms levelled at Bale was an unwillingness to integrate himself in Madrid, Spain. The 31-year-old often refused to go out to dinner with teammates, didn’t learn much of the Spanish language and didn’t have a good relationship with supporters.
As noted by SportBible, Bale also said he loved playing golf more than he did playing for Los Blancos with the infamous ‘Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that Order’ which didn’t go down well in the Spanish capital. He’s loved universally back in England, will have his friends and family much closer to him and won’t have a language barrier, so it’s not surprising Bale is considering staying here for good.
Bale promised to return and Barnett explained why Spurs mean more
In 2014, Bale told the Telegraph that he could return to Tottenham when his playing days at Madrid are over. He said: “Tottenham will always have a place in my heart. I love Spurs fans. I could come back one day.” The Welsh international also described Tottenham as “somewhere I felt so comfortable and so happy”, so it means more to be with Spurs than elsewhere in England.
Six years later, he kept to his word and looks happier than he’s been for a long time. Barnett said this summer that Bale turned down bigger clubs than Tottenham to return to North London. His relationship with us was the clincher, so there’s no reason why he wouldn’t want to stay. Here’s hoping Bale can have a productive and injury-free campaign.
Summary
I was adamant Bale would never return to Tottenham, but I’m not ruling out the prospect of him ending his career in North London now. It’s clear he loves the club and its supporters more than he does playing at the highest possible level, and we have the season to hash out a deal with Real, so anything is possible.
In other news, Tottenham could agree a deal with Benfica for Haris Seferovic
I wrote six or seven years ago on VS that if “our” Gareth Bale stayed in N17 and won one PL title he would retire as a god, but if he went to RM and won lots of titles it would gain him no admiration at all, he’d but but one more player on their team.
I was wrong. It went worse than my worst expectation. He went to RM, won titles and cups, and now he has left as a disliked player. Hope he enjoys the money he made there, because that was his only gain in going there.
If he wins some sort of title in his return to N17, it will no longer make him a god. The best he can gain now is some sort of status as, well, that’s nice, but think of what he could have been if he hadn’t chased the Euros.
Financially, I guess he’s become an extremely rich man, but there will always be a bit of sadness about his career.