Jonathan Barnett also claims Welshman didn't get the respect he deserved at Real Madrid and that "they should be kissing the floor that he walks on"
Tuesday 22 September 2020 12:04, UK
Gareth Bale could stay at Tottenham beyond his season-long loan deal, according to his agent Jonathan Barnett.
The Wales forward has returned to Spurs on loan, seven years after leaving the north London club for Real Madrid in an £85m transfer.
Bale helped Real to four Champions League triumphs but has been frozen out at the Bernabeu after falling out with boss Zinedine Zidane.
The 31-year-old remains a Real Madrid player, but his agent Jonathan Barnett has admitted Bale's career in the Spanish capital has effectively already come to a close.
Asked if Bale could stay at Spurs beyond his one-season loan, Barnett told talkSPORT: "Yeah, there are lots of opportunities; it's up to him.
"The most important thing is for him to enjoy his football and that he's playing well. As long as that's happening, it'll all be fine.
"He's a mature man now and he knows what he wants out of life.
"He's probably the most successful footballer Britain has ever produced, and there's lots of things he still wants to do with his life, so we'll have to wait and see."
Bale's Tottenham arrival boosts boss Jose Mourinho, who can deploy the pacy forward alongside Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.
Barnett said his player's return to Spurs had proved straightforward, especially after his Madrid career had turned sour.
"It was a fairly easy decision," he added. "He had other choices but Tottenham is his love, he loves Tottenham and at the end of the day that's the one he wanted.
"It's good to see him happy. If he was going to move this summer, it was only to somewhere where he could smile again and be happy - he wasn't just going to move for the sake of it.
"We had other clubs, maybe bigger clubs than Tottenham, interested, but he had to be happy with where he went and I think he is now.
"It was all agreed his career at Real Madrid was over so it was quite easy once we realised it was serious.
"It was a build-up of a clash of personalities, a build-up of not being supported, it was many different things.
"For somebody who has done as well as he has for Real Madrid, he didn't get the respect he deserved and that was a big problem.
"What he's achieved for Real Madrid, they should be kissing the floor that he walks on."
Bale has enjoyed much of his success on the right wing and - despite those infamous White Hart Lane chants reminding Harry Redknapp that he 'plays on the left' - it is there that the 31-year-old forward would expect to be deployed on his return to the Premier League.
In the autumn of his career, those bursts of pace down the outside are likely to become more infrequent but Bale will surely retain the ability to cut inside and find enough space to fire off shots from distance with his favoured left foot - something that he does better than almost anyone.
In the final season of his first spell with Spurs, Bale scored no fewer than nine Premier League goals from outside the box - which was as many as the two next best players that season combined. Indeed, nobody has come close to matching that tally since.
Even after a season of relative inactivity, clubs are interested in that kind of firepower. Manchester United's pursuit of Jadon Sancho indicates that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is not yet ready to entrust the role on the right to Mason Greenwood alone and wants more than a mere deputy.
Read our full feature here to read why Bale chose Tottenham over Man Utd and if he can be a success in the Premier League again.
Listen to the Transfer Talk podcast on: Spotify | Apple | SpreakerThe summer transfer window closes at 11pm on Monday October 5 with a feast of activity lined up on Transfer Deadline Day on Sky Sports News and across our Sky Sports platforms.
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