GARETH BALE’S fairytale return to Tottenham will not have a happy ending after all.
The Welshman, 31, confirmed he will return to Real Madrid next season after just a year in North London under Jose Mourinho.
Spurs fans could be forgiven for their excitement when Mourinho pulled off a year-long loan for Bale at the beginning of the season.
After all, he did arrive at his former club with four Champions League trophies and two LaLiga titles under his belt.
And while he scored 55 goals in 203 appearances during his first spell at Spurs all those years ago, his return this season has been a damp squib.
A lack of match fitness and drop in form has limited Bale to just 12 Premier League appearances, scoring just five goals.
With wages of a whopping £650,000 a week, of which Real are contributing half, it means EACH Premier League goal has cost Spurs a staggering £1.69million.
Bale has also achieved only two league assists throughout the campaign although he’ll have to go back to the 2015-16 season for the last time he reached double figures for setting up goals.
Mourinho has been eager to build Bale’s match fitness throughout cup clashes, especially in the Europa League.
In 10 appearances in Europe, he has scored three and assisted one with two of those strikes coming against Wolfsberger.
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Bale also made two appearances in the FA Cup, scoring against Stoke, and one in the League Cup.
During his time at Tottenham, he has cost the club a whopping £8.45m in wages with that figure continuing to rise until his loan deal expires in June.
Mourinho and Bale’s relationship has also appeared more strained as the season went on.
In January, the Portuguese boss sent him a brutal warning shot during training by saying ‘you want to stay here? Or go to Real Madrid and play no football?’
And a month later Mourinho was reportedly furious when Bale undermined him with an Instagram post.
After Bale was left out on an FA Cup defeat by Everton with Mourinho citing a fitness issue, the forward then posted an image of himself in training alongside the caption ‘good session today.’
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
