Can Bale Make the Difference for Spurs?

01/10/20 3628

It had been a quiet summer transfer market for Tottenham Hotspur until last week. There was no real sign of any big name incoming players until the news broke of a possible move for Gareth Bale and Sergio Reguilón.

With Manchester United also reportedly monitoring the situation of Bale at Real Madrid, Spurs fans could not afford to get too excited but on the 18th of September it was revealed the Welshman would join Spurs on an initial one year loan deal.

Speaking of the transfer, Bale said, “It's nice to be back. It's such a special club to me. It's where I made my name,” before continuing, “Hopefully, now I can get some match fitness, get under way and really help the team and, hopefully, win trophies.”

However, Bale suffered an injury when playing for Wales in the UEFA Nations League and that could keep him out of the next 5 matches. Bale has had plenty of injury problems over the past few years at Real Madrid and it will be interesting to see exactly how many games he will play for Spurs this season.

There is no doubt Bale is one of the greatest players in the history of Tottenham Hotspur. Who can forget the hat-trick he scored against Inter Milan at the San Siro in the Champions League or the return fixture at White Hart Lane when he destroyed Maicon?

His time at Real Madrid came with a phenomenal haul of trophies, including four Champions League winners medals. Bale scored in two Champions League finals, one of which was a fantastic overhead kick against Liverpool. For any other player, that would have been enough to leave a club as a hero but that is not the case for Bale. He has struggled to play any part for Real Madrid in recent seasons and this year, Bale has played just 344 minutes of league football, failing to score a league since March 2019.

In many ways, it appeared as though Bale was not bothered about his lack of game time at the Santiago Bernabéu. The only time he has managed to make the news was posing with a flag that listed his priorities as “Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order” plus pretending to sleep when left on the bench against Alavés. It gives off the impression of a player who has perhaps lost his desire to play football or maybe it was just his way of dealing with rejection at a club where he has delivered the goods.

The good news for Spurs is that it appears as though Bale has been training normally and is certainly not going to be suffering from any kind of burnout. Many players have had little time to rest between seasons, whereas Bale should be refreshed and ready to play games. The thought of Kane dropping off with Bale and Son Heung-min running behind defences is mouth-watering.

The transfer has brought back a bit of glamour to Tottenham Hotspur and if Bale can remain fit throughout the season, they have a tremendous player on their hands.