Gareth Bale has barely played in the Premier League since his return to Tottenham Hotspur.
The Wales international arrived back in north London to much fanfare in the summer but has yet to properly prove his fitness, it seems, as he battles back from a spell on the sidelines at Real Madrid.
Indeed, Bale has played just three times in the top-flight since his return, totalling 116 minutes of football.
Just one of those was a start, against West Bromwich Albion, while he came off the bench against West Ham United and Brighton & Hove Albion.
The latter saw him score the winner, a clever, late header to give his side a 2-1 win.
Bale has instead been utilised more often in the Europa League by boss Jose Mourinho, playing in every group stage game and scoring in the 3-3 draw with LASK.
Sport Witness now carries a report from Spanish newspaper AS claiming that Bale has made a decision over his future plans as he contemplates where he will end up once his loan spell at Spurs finishes.
They report that he has his eye on a swansong in Spain, a final season in Madrid before his contract expires at the end of next season.
He is said to be watching developments closely with Real, with there being the potential that they could sack Zinedine Zidane at some point.
Real are currently three points behind leaders Real Sociedad and second-placed Atletico Madrid, though they have a game in hand on Sociedad. Atletico have a game in hand on them.
Nevertheless, even if Zidane doesn’t go, it’s reported that Bale could still return, as he has not thrived in north London, meaning it’s somewhat doubtful Spurs will actually make his deal permanent.
However, it’s worth pointing out here that it was widely reported that Spurs held an option to extend his loan by a further year should they so wish, when they signed him.
GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…
Bale isn’t yet up to speed.
That seems to be the only logical way to describe why he hasn’t been playing regularly for Spurs and one has to think that he will become integral to Mourinho as the season goes on.
The club, after all, are still fighting on four fronts: The Premier League, the Europa League, the Carabao Cup, and the FA Cup.
Spurs also have five games in 16 days before the start of January so rotation will be necessary.
To be claiming that Bale is already looking to return to Real feels premature in the extreme.