Tottenham Hotspur has completed loan deal for Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale .
Bale, who left Spurs in 2013 for a then-world record £85.3m fee, had been ostracised by Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane, with the Spanish champions desperate to offload the 31-year-old’s exorbitant wages.
Madrid are understood to have agreed to subsidise around 50 per cent of Bale’s salary in order to facilitate the move, with Bale’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, admitting Tottenham still had a “special place” in the winger’s heart and that it’s “where he wants to be”.
Bale said: “It’s nice to be back. It’s such a special club to me, it’s where I made my name. What an amazing club, amazing fans, just incredible to be back.
“Hopefully now I can get some match fitness and get under way and really help the team, and hopefully win trophies.
“Of course, I think – as I said – it’s such a special club, I always thought that one day when I did leave [Real Madrid] I would love to come back. The opportunity now has arisen and I feel like it’s a good fit, it’s a good time to me. I’m hungry, I’m motivated, I wanna do well for the team. I can’t wait to get started.
Gareth Bale: ‘I feel like I have that winning mentality, I know how to win trophies,’ says winger upon return to Tottenham Hotspur.
Gareth Bale: ‘I feel like I have that winning mentality, I know how to win trophies,’ says winger upon return to Tottenham Hotspur
Sergio Reguilon: Tottenham sign Real Madrid full-back for £27m
“By going to Madrid, winning trophies and going far [at Euro 2016] with the national team, I feel like I have that kind of winning mentality – how to win trophies.
“You don’t realise it until you’re there, and it’s – in those situations, in finals – knowing how to kind of deal with the situation, the nerves, the pressure.
“I think that all goes with experience, so hopefully I can bring that to the dressing room, bring a bit more belief to everybody that we can win a trophy, and the target is to do that this season – not to just win one, but to be fighting on every front possible.
“I was speaking with the chairman before, obviously we were speaking about the past, what we did to get the club to the next level, and since I’ve left the club’s just been building and growing.
“And I just said the stadium is incredible, the training ground has gotten even better since I was here last. So it’s an exciting time for everybody here.”
Bale flew to London on Friday to finalise the transfer, along with full-back Sergio Reguilon, who Tottenham have signed from Madrid for £27m.
Bale has won four Champions League titles and scored over 100 goals since moving to Madrid seven years ago.
Real Madrid said: “We wish the best of luck to a player who has been part of one of the club’s most successful periods.”
