World-class Bale has come home to be loved again ..but I don’t think he’ll be adding to his unrivalled trophy haul

GARETH BALE is British football’s most successful export since fellow Welshman John Charles, and it’s understandable if he is coming ‘home’ to Spurs to feel loved again.

But I don’t see Bale’s return to the Premier League adding to all the trophies he won at Real Madrid.

Maybe, after a couple of injury-hit seasons, he is not quite the same matchwinner Tottenham sold for a then world record £ 85million seven years ago, but Bale is still a world-class player.

And given everything he has achieved at Real Madrid, his success at the Bernabeu is under-appreciated.

For me, Bale’s record stands comparison with any of British football’s best players abroad – from the great Charles ( below, far right) at Juventus, to Kevin Keegan at Hamburg, Tony Woodcock at Cologne, Michael Owen and Steve McManaman at Real Madrid, Paul Ince at Inter Milan, Paul Gascoigne at Lazio and Gary Lineker at Barcelona.

And Bale should be revered in Spain withith the very best imported legends.egends. Just look at his stats,, which stack up well in comparisonomparison with somee of the biggest names.mes.

He has scoredored 105 goals, wonon 13 trophies, includingcluding the Championspions League four times, and his overhead kick against Liverpool two years ago wa s the greatestst goal in a major final I’ve seen.

Comparee that with the great Zinedine

Zidane, now his coach at Real: 49 goals, six trophies and that world-class volley against Bayer Leverkusen in a Champions League final. Compare Bale’s record with Luis Figo: 57 goals, seven trophies. And compare it with Brazilian legend Ronaldo: 104 goals and three trophies. Bale ( left, in his first Spurs spell) has scored more goals and won more trophies than those three. So he is up there with the greats. Where will he fit in at

Tottenham? Jose Mourinho is tactically more astute than I can ever hope to be, but I would play him just off Harry Kane in a central role.

That is where he has the best ch a n c e of manipulating the ball on to that deadly left foot and influencing the game. With Kane and Bale, Tottenham will lift the whole club, lift the supporters and it should give them a better chance of lifting trophies this season.

I’m not sure it will be enough to outweigh Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea’s squad depths, but it will make Spurs an even more fascinating watch this season.

After some of the hostility aimed at Bale by ungrateful sections of Real Madrid’s support, I can understand him coming home to a club where he will feel loved. But for footballing reasons, I fear his return to Tottenham may have come a couple of years too late to win trophies.