Antonio Conte wants to bring Gareth Bale back to Tottenham Hotspur for a third time, according to reports…
What’s the word?
Spanish journalist Eduardo Inda has told Spanish outlet El Chiringuito, via OKDARIO, that the 52-year-old rejected the opportunity to sign Real Madrid flop Eden Hazard on loan following a suggestion from chairman Daniel Levy and instead asked for the former Spurs star.
“He wanted to sign Eden Hazard, but Conte has told him no because he knows him from when he trained at Chelsea and says that he has little intensity and that he is not a very hard worker,” he claimed.
“The most striking thing is the player that Conte has asked Levy to take him to London is Gareth Bale. Bale ends his contract at the end of the season, but in winter it would not be free.”
There are no plans to extend the Welshman’s contract at the Bernabeu, so there is an increasing possibility that he will be looking for a new club come to the summer and after a successful loan stint in N17 last term, perhaps another reunion could be on the cards.
Imagine him and Kane
This would be an intriguing decision from Conte and co but one that does make sense. You could argue that the Lilywhites failed to replace Bale during the summer as he actually provided plenty of goals and menace in the final third.
And that’s where the Italian’s biggest issue lies right now.
His side have not registered a shot on target in the Premier League in nearly four hours, with their last goal coming over five hours ago.
Only one team has scored fewer goals (nine) this season, Norwich City (five) and similarly, the north Londoners rank last for average shots per game (10.1), as per WhoScored.
Last season, Bale was their third-highest goalscorer with 11 goals in the Premier League and three goals in the Europa League, with only Heung-min Son and Harry Kane managing more.
After the trio, no other player found the net more than three times in the league, which is rather damning. It seems that is a problem that still lingers in N17 as Son has scored four goals in the top-flight, with four other players sitting on the solitary goal.
In total, Bale found the net 16 times and averaged a direct contribution once every 87 minutes, via Transfermarkt, which is pretty outstanding and is more reason to suggest why he could fix Conte’s big issue.
After a hat-trick against Sheffield United, former Premier League marksman Alan Shearer waxed lyrical about the 32-year-old on Match of the Day. “It was a magnificent performance. It was the very best of Gareth Bale, it had everything, the running off the ball, work rate and his finishing was lethal,” he said (via football.london).
Even ex-manager Jose Mourinho dubbed the 6 foot 1 winger “remarkable” for his “incredible” impact at the club, both on and off the pitch, so that’s certainly another factor that bolsters Spurs’ claims to re-sign him for the third time.
Capped 99 times by Wales and valued at just £9m by Transfermarkt, Bale could be exactly what’s needed to help get Kane and co firing again.
Spurs sporting director Fabio Paratici could form a deadly duo up top by bringing the Wales star and the England skipper together again.
AND in other news, “One of Conte’s requests”: Spurs plot “extraordinary” signing, fans should be thrilled…