Tottenham have 'first refusal' on second Gareth Bale loan
By Tom Gott
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy will give the team's new manager the option to bring Welsh winger Gareth Bale back on loan for another season as they have first refusal on a new loan deal for the Real Madrid man.
After battling injuries early in the season, Bale has enjoyed an impressive resurgence with Spurs. He has bagged eight goals in his last six starts, including Sunday's dazzling hat-trick against Sheffield United.
As it stands, Bale is set to return to Real at the end of the season as there is no option to buy in his contract, but the Daily Mail state that Spurs do have the option to extend it by a further year if Bale agrees to stay.
No decision has been made yet, with both Spurs and Bale waiting to see who comes in to replace Jose Mourinho as the new permanent boss, but there is a growing feeling that a second loan would make a lot of sense for everyone involved.
While Spurs aren't exactly enamoured by the idea of paying Bale the best part of £12m in wages for one season of work, there is an acceptance that sending him back to Real now and signing a replacement would cost them significantly more than that in transfer fees and wages.
Spurs see bringing Bale back as somewhat of a bargain, but Real's feelings on letting Bale leave on loan again are currently unclear.
He has just one year remaining on his contract with Real, where he is obviously not signing an extension, and clubs very rarely loan players out when they are going to walk away for free at the end of the deal anyway.
Real are also paying close to £150,000-a-week of Bale's salary, so they would prefer to get him off the books permanently this summer. Having said that, if nobody wants him, paying £150,000 is a lot better than the £400,000 he usually takes home in a week.
Bale has bagged 14 goals and and three assists in all competitions for Spurs this season, enough to make him the team's third top scorer this season.
It's hard to see the Welshman turning down another season at Spurs, so the final decision on a second loan will likely be left to whoever arrives in the dugout this summer.