Mourinho asked about Bale transfer, Spurs boss hints he has sanctioned deal
Jose Mourinho was keeping his cards close to his chest on Wednesday after being asked about Tottenham’s hopes of bringing Gareth Bale back to north London.
Bale left for Real Madrid in 2013 in an £85m transfer and the player’s agent Jonathan Barnett has admitted that talks over a return have taken place.
“We are talking,” Barnett told BBC Radio Wales, referring to Tottenham, Real Madrid and Bale.
“He still loves Spurs. It’s where he wants to be.”
Whether or not Spurs fancy Bale on a loan deal or a permanent transfer remains unclear.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Real are willing to sell Bale for just £18m. That’s because they are desperate to get his £15m-per-season wages off the books.
Asked about Bale at his press conference on Wednesday though, Mourinho was coy.
“Gareth Bale is a Real Madrid player and I don’t talk about players from other clubs. It’s not my job to have contact with agents and I don’t want to comment,” said the Spurs boss.
“I don’t comment on hypothetical stuff. Gareth Bale is a Real Madrid player.”
Mourinho sanctions deal
Probed further, Mourinho did admit he tried to sign the Wales star before and gave a big hint that he has sanctioned a deal for the 31-year-old.
Mourinho added: “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. That’s no secret and Gareth knows that.
“A squad is a puzzle and when a new signing completes the puzzle it’s great for the team.
“Three more weeks, the market is open both ways. I think in football you have to be always waiting for something to happen. Let’s see what happens to us. I never liked to start the competition with an open transfer window.”
Bale has fallen down the pecking order in the past couple of years at Real Madrid. The Wales winger has spoken out about his frustration at being frozen out of the team and denied the chance to leave.
The former Tottenham star was close to leaving the club for China in 2019, but that deal fell through.
While earlier this month former Real president Ramon Calderon said an English club also tried to move for Bale on the final day of last summer’s transfer window.
“I know in the last day of the transfer window last year there was an offer from the Premier League,” ex-president, Ramon Calderon, told talkSPORT.
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