21st September, 2020
It is now official. Gareth Bale, the 31-year-old striker, is moving back to Tottenham Hotspur on a one-year loan deal.
It is being reported that Spurs will be paying half of his salary while Real Madrid pays the balance.
It is a sensational deal, and one which could help manager Jose Mourinho, rated as the 6th best manager in English football history, to turn around the flagging fortunes of the Lilywhites.
Bale will be relieved to be leaving the Bernabéu.
Although, when he was transferred by Tottenham back in 2013, he was the world’s most expensive player, he never quite lived up to that reputation.
Filling the hole left by the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo was never going to be easy – as so it proved.
The Welshman scored some magnificent goals in his seven-year spell at Real, none better than his spectacular bicycle kick against Liverpool in the Champions League back in 2018.
But his disintegrating relationship with Los Blancos manager, Zinedine Zidane, and falling into disfavour with the supporters, who nicknamed him “The Golfer,” wore him down.
The result is that for all parties concerned, – the player, the manager, the supporters and the club as a whole, the loan deal comes as a great relief.
Real Madrid have been taking action in the transfer market to get around the Bale situation.
One of their targets was the Nigerian striker Samuel Chukwueze who currently plays for Villareal. A possible transfer fell through, however.
The Yellow Submarine had set a release clause in his contract at €63 million, and Los Blancos were unwilling to pay that much for the 21-year-old.
Travelling to London alongside Gareth Bale was Sergio Reguilon, Real Madrid’s 23-year-old left-back. It is understood he will be joining Tottenham for a transfer fee of around €30 million, although Real will insist on a 50% buy-back clause.
Reguilon was on loan last season at Sevilla, and he impressed. He is an attacking full-back with huge potential, along the lines of former spurs wing-backs like Danny Rose, Kieran Trippier, and Kyle Walker.
Jose Mourinho is reshaping his Tottenham side in the biggest shake-up for many a year. It comes after the completion of the new stadium, a project which demanded all of the club’s finances, leaving virtually nothing for transfers.
It was something that Mauricio Pochettino, Spurs’ former manager had to endure, but understood.
The arrival of Bale and Reguilon comes hard on the heels of the signings of Matt Doherty from Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Pierre Hojbjerg from Southampton.
Mourinho still wants another striker as back up for Kane and Son, both of whom were out of the game for prolonged periods last season due to injury. He was interested in signing Southampton’s Danny Ings, but that is no longer an option as Saints have said he is not up for sale at any price.
The Portuguese’s next target is said to be Dutchman Bas Dost, the 31-year-old Eintracht Frankfurt striker.
Mourinho was also reportedly interested in Arkadiusz Milik, the 26-year-old Polish striker. However, he has now completed a move to AS Roma.
It looks like being exciting times at Tottenham. With his new and targeted acquisitions, Jose Mourinho could well be changing the system.
He may be ushering in a new era of exciting, attacking football, something for which Tottenham Hotspur always been renowned.