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Welsh striker returns to former club, seven years after leaving on world record contract
Gareth Bale has said he is “hungry” for Tottenham Hotspur to finish their 12-year wait for a trophy and believes that their joy at winning Real Madrid will be invaluable to the Premier League club.
Bale moved on loan to the Spurs on Saturday, seven years after leaving for Madrid with a world record payment of 85 million pounds (403. 3 million dirhams).
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The 31-year-old Welsh striker has won 4 Champions Leagues, two La Ligas and one Copa del Rey – where he scored a memorable triumph against Barcelona in the top – with the Spanish giants.
However, Bale froze through Madrid technician Zinedine Zidane, who hoped to move the captain from Wales last summer before an agreement with China failed.
The former Southampton winger made only two appearances for Madrid after football returned from the coronavirus blockade and not even for the Real Madrid Champions League left for Manchester City in June.
Bale now has his return to his old club and believes the time has come for a new challenge.
“I think when I left, I’d like to come back someday, and now the opportunity has come up,” Bale told the Tottenham website. “I feel like it’s a smart fit, it’s a smart time for me. “I’m hungry, I’m motivated, I need to do it right and I can’t wait to get started. “
While Bale was busy filling his cupboard with trophies as a Madrid player, Tottenham’s attempts to win his first silver medal since the 2008 League Cup failed.
Having been there and done so many times, Bale believes that reveling can give the Spurs something else in their trophy quest.
“I think going to Madrid, winning trophies and going with the national team, I feel like I have this winning mentality, how to win trophies,” he said.
“You don’t realize it until you’re there, in those situations, in the final, and you know how to take care of those situations, nerves, pressure, and everything comes with experience.
“I hope to bring this to the locker room, bring this confidence that we can win a trophy, and the time to do so is this season, not just one, to fight on every single front imaginable. I need to bring that back to Tottenham. “
Tottenham would pay part of Bale’s salary of 30 million euros (130. 5 million dirhams) for the season, and Madrid would cover the rest.
He will wear the number nine shirt and form an exciting trio with England captain Harry Kane and South Korean Son Heung-min.
José Mourinho’s men are in dire need of a special touch after failing to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in five years last season and starting their new Premier League crusade with a disheartening 1-0 defeat in home to Everton.
In the Spurs, Bale is still remembered as one of the biggest in the club.
He won the Premier League Player of the Year award twice in his first season as a team, scoring 56 goals in 203 appearances and which led Madrid to pay record value for his services.
“It’s such a special club to me. That’s where I made a call,” he said. “What an amazing club, amazing fans, and it’s just amazing to be back. I look forward to getting back in shape, to the team and winning trophies. “
Tottenham has shown that Bale will have compatibility until the end of October due to a knee injury that occurred while playing with Wales e-1 this month.
Spanish left-back Sergio Reguilón also moved permanently from Madrid to Tottenham on Saturday for a payment of 30 million euros.
Reguilón travels to London after being loaned in season to Sevilla, winner of the Europa League.
Madrid, however, would keep buying the 23-year-old for the next two seasons.
“Tottenham has world-class players and a world-class coach, and I’m going to paint myself with them,” Reguilon said.
“I think I’m getting to the toughest league in the world. I’m excited about this adventure. “