Reports: Tottenham Hotspur poised to offer Gareth Bale escape route from Real MadridÂ
Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly plotting a sensational swoop to bring Gareth Bale back to North London, at least on loan. Bale, whose Real Madrid career has come to a grinding halt, enjoyed a breakout spell in his career at Tottenham before he moved to Real Madrid in 2013.
The Welshman has reportedly been the subject of Tottenham's interest in the last few transfer windows. And Football Insider claim that the North London club could make a late move for Bale in this window.
Spurs were interested in bringing Bale on loan last summer, but that move fell through. After that, it emerged that Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning had agreed a free transfer. But Real Madrid pulled the plug on that deal at the eleventh hour.
This summer, if any deal is to materialize, it would have to be a loan deal, with Spurs unlikely to be in a position to pay any sort of transfer fee to Real Madrid.
In addition, it is also thought that the loan deal would have to have an arrangement for Real Madrid to continue paying a chunk of Bale's wages.
Gareth Bale exit from Real Madrid imminent?
Relations between Bale and Zinedine Zidane have never really been cordial for almost the entire season. But post the restart after the COVID-19 lockdown, it has taken a fall for the worse.
The latest development was Bale being completely left out of the 23-man squad that faced Manchester City in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie. Zidane claimed that Bale was only left out because "he preferred not to play".
Even in LaLiga, Bale has been reduced to mostly sitting on the bench as an unused substitute. He was barely involved when Real Madrid went on a 10-match winning run to secure the title, Bale's second in his time in Spain.
In addition to the two league titles, Bale is also a four-time Champions League winner. The Welshman's star turn came in the 2018 final against Liverpool where he scored twice after coming on as a substitute.
It remains to be seen if Tottenham's interest eventually materialises into a concrete offer to give Bale an escape from his current Real Madrid nightmare. In any case, Real Madrid would have to be a big financial contributor, even if temporarily, for Bale to move away from the Bernabeu.