No Spurs stay as Bale reveals Real ambition
GARETH BALE plans to end his Tottenham stay at the end of the season and return to Real Madrid.
Wales captain Bale joined Spurs on loan in September and has had a mixed season with form and fitness issues dominating his second spell in north London.
The 31-year-old’s Madrid contract runs until the end of the 2021-22 season.
‘There’s no distraction for me,’ Bale said ahead of Wales’ opening World Cup qualifier in Belgium tonight. ‘I think the main reason I came to Spurs this year was to play football, first and foremost.
‘Going into the Euros I wanted to be match-fit. The original plan was to do a season at Spurs and after the Euros still have a year left at Real Madrid. My plan is to go back, that’s as far I have planned.’
Spurs manager Jose Mourinho said earlier this month Bale’s future beyond the end of the season was a matter for Real.
Mourinho appeared to question Bale’s attitude after Tottenham’s FA Cup defeat to Everton in February, when the player asked for a scan on an injury the Spurs boss described as ‘not obvious’.
But Bale then enjoyed a first-team resurgence, scoring six goals in six games before Spurs’ season took a turn for the worse with a derby defeat to Arsenal and a Europa League exit at the hands of Dinamo Zagreb. Bale was benched for that 3-0 defeat in Croatia and the 2-0 win at Aston Villa on Sunday.
On arriving fresh for international duty, Bale said: ‘Over the last few years this is probably the most match fitness I’ve had.
‘I always think when things aren’t going too well at a club, it’s nice to get away, especially mentally, get away from the club environment.
‘Definitely it can be a benefit. We forget club life and concentrate on this.’
Wales open their World Cup qualifying campaign against Belgium in Leuven before hosting the Czech Republic on Tuesday.
Bale has never played at a World Cup finals and admits he would swap one of his four Champions League winners’ medals to grace that stage at Qatar 2022.
‘It might be the last time my generation has the opportunity to qualify for a World Cup,’ Bale said.
‘We haven’t done that as a country for a long time [since 1958] and it’s something that the players dream of doing. We’ll give everything we can to do that.’
■ WALES will be without injured defenders Ben Davies and Tom Lockyer for their opening two World Cup qualifiers, as well as Saturday’s Cardiff friendly with Mexico. Caretaker boss Robert Page described the absence of Davies as ‘significant’. Lockyer’s is less surprising as the Luton star has not played since picking up an ankle injury last month.
Getting away can be a benefit – we forget club life and concentrate on this