Bale's agent confirms Tottenham talks

 

The agent of Gareth Bale has confirmed his client wants to leave Real Madrid and return to Tottenham this summer.

 

Tottenham are clear favourites to sign Bale despite interest from Premier League rivals Manchester United.

 

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side had earmarked Bale as a short-term option if they fail to prise Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund.

 

Bale's stock has hit the floor in Spain and Zinedine Zidane is desperate to see the back of him with a Premier League return now on the cards.

 

The 31-year-old has been heavily linked with a return to England ever since first leaving Tottenham in 2013 for a then-world record £85m fee.

 

However, he has never been closer to returning than now and his agent, Jonathan Barnett, has confirmed his client wants to go back to Tottenham.

 

Gareth still loves Spurs," he told BBC Sport. It's where he wants to be".

 

 

Bales's £600,000-a-week wages are still a major sticking point for Tottenham but Madrid are so keen to offload the Wales international they are said to be prepared to pay a large portion themselves.

 

Tottenham reportedly explored offloading Dele Alli to Madrid in order to cheapen the deal for Bale but the LaLiga champions declined.

 

In seven seasons at Madrid Bale has only managed to feature in excess of 70% of available minutes in one LaLiga campaign.