Gareth Bale is back in familiar surroundings at Tottenham, with the Welshman seeing a loan return to north London bring a nightmare spell at Real Madrid to a close.
The 31-year-old left Spurs in the summer of 2013 as the most expensive player on the planet.
“We are delighted to announce the return of Gareth Bale to the club on a season-long loan from Real Madrid,” Tottenham Hotspur’s offiical Twitter account.
✍️ We are delighted to announce the return of @GarethBale11 to the Club on a season-long loan from Real Madrid!#BaleIsBack ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/6w8P1CLx61
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 19, 2020
To all the Spurs fans, after 7 years, I’m back! #COYS @SpursOfficial https://t.co/NbAaUWefQP pic.twitter.com/zGk37PnQe9
— Gareth Bale (@GarethBale11) September 19, 2020
🏠 @GarethBale11 has a message for you all…#BaleIsBack ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/dSR2hnPEHn
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 19, 2020
Bale joins manager Jose Mourinho’s other signings of this transfer window, joining goalkeeper Joe Hart, defender Matt Doherty, midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and left-back Sergio Reguilon at the club.
Tottenham, Champions League finalists in 2019, were beaten 1-0 at home by Everton in their first match of the 2020-21 campaign on Sunday.
They finished sixth in the English top flight last season to qualify for the Europa League, seven points adrift of Chelsea in the final Champions League position.
Mourinho, beginning his first full campaign with Spurs after succeeding Mauricio Pochettino in December, tried to sign Bale when Real Madrid boss but the player arrived the season after the Portuguese’s departure.
From the world’s most expensive signing to a player on the fringes
Real eclipsed the £80m they paid Manchester United for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009 to take Bale to the Bernabeu, with the forward signing an initial £300,000-a-week, six-year contract.
He extended his stay with a new six-year deal in 2016, reported to be worth £600,000 a week – and £150m over its duration – in salaries and bonuses.
The Welshman was hugely successful in his first few seasons at Real, scoring in the 2014 and 2018 Champions League finals, as well as the 2014 Copa del Rey final.
| Competition | Won by Bale with Real Madrid |
|---|---|
| Champions League | 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 |
| La Liga | 2016-17, 2019-20 |
| Copa del Rey | 2014 |
| Uefa Super Cup | 2014, 2016, 2017 |
| Club World Cup | 2014, 2017, 2018 |
BBC Sport readers voted Bale as the best British export of the Premier League era earlier this year, his 42% share comfortably eclipsing former England, Manchester United and Real Madrid winger David Beckham’s 29%.
But, frustrated by a lack of playing time, Bale came close to a move to China last year before Real blocked it.
After celebrating Wales’ qualification for Euro 2020 with a banner reading “Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that Order” in November, he received a backlash in Spain and was jeered by Real fans in his first game back for the club.
His relationship with Zidane deteriorated to the extent Bale asked not to travel with the squad for the Champions League last-16 second-leg tie against Manchester City in August because he knew he had no chance of being involved.
He started just one match when the 2019-20 La Liga season resumed following the coronavirus shutdown and played only 100 minutes as Real won a first league title since 2017, and was conspicuously on the fringes of the team’s celebrations.
