Jose playing cards close to chest over Bale return
JOSE Mourinho was not prepared to give anything away as Gareth Bale’s representatives work on a return to Tottenham.
Spurs and Real Madrid were still in discussions to get the move done yesterday morning.
It is a complicated deal that will inevitably encounter hurdles given Bale’s wages and situation at the Bernabeu, but it is one that the Welshman is keen to make.
Mourinho, who tried to take Bale to Madrid when he was manager there, was unmoved on the possible signing.
The Spurs boss said ahead of his side’s Europa League second qualifying round clash with Lokomotiv Plovdiv: “Gareth Bale is a Real Madrid player and I don’t comment on players from other clubs.
“That is not my job to have contact with agents. I don’t want to comment on that.
“I don’t comment on hypothetical stuff. Again, I repeat, I’m not going to comment on Gareth Bale, a Real Madrid player. I have to respect that.
“I tried to sign him for Real Madrid which was not possible to do during my time there.
“But the president followed my instinct and my knowledge and the season I left he brought Gareth to the club.
“There is no secret of that, even Gareth knows that. But I’m not going to speak about him anymore because he is a Real Madrid player.”
Bale left north London in 2013 for a then world-record fee and went on to become one of the top three players in the world alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
He won fo ur Champions League titles, along with a host of domestic trophies, but has fallen out of favour under Zinedine Zidane and it looks like being a bitter end in the Spanish capital.
Mourinho, meanwhile, is not taking the Bulgarian side lightly.
He said: “It is only one game, not two — with two games the situation would be different.
“With one match, one decision, everything is decided. I think it is a difficult match and we are going to give them the respect they deserve from us.
“We are going there knowing it is black or white, there is no other option, you win or lose, you are in or out.
“We go with the intention of being in the next round. I believe it is a good competition to develop my team and try to win it.”