Gareth Bale insists the presence of Jose Mourinho was a big factor behind his return to Tottenham, describing his new manager as the "perfect fit" for the club.
Seven years after his departure to Real Madrid, Bale secured his sensational return to Tottenham in a season-long loan deal on Sunday, joining alongside his team-mate Sergio Reguilon.
Bale won two PFA Player of the Year awards while with Tottenham prior to making his British-record £85million transfer to Madrid, but he returns to a side of totally different dimensions: one of regular Champions League football and with a £1billion state-of-the-art stadium.
The Welshman proved highly successful in Madrid, where he won four Champions League titles, and he insists he's determined to continue to win trophies with Tottenham.
The 31-year-old has revealed he has already spoken to Mourinho about his position in the team.
"He’s spoken to me about a few positions that he would like me to play and obviously I’m happy with that," Bale told BT Sport. "He was a big reason for me coming back here. He’s a household name and a winner.
"He’s the perfect fit for Tottenham. We need to win trophies and he knows how to do that better than anyone.
"I know every Tottenham fan is desperate for a trophy and we’ll be trying as hard as possible in every competition to do that.
Tottenham fans will have fond memories of Bale producing regular lung-busting runs down either wing. And while he admits he's not the same player he once was, Bale insists his game has developed further - and insists the pace is still there.
"As a player I’m not going to be doing the same 90-yard runs down the wing every second," he said. "I understand my game more, it’s evolved since then.
"I’m more grown up and mature. I might not act it sometimes when I’m joking around in training but I had to grow up living abroad.
"But I know I still have a lot to offer and I still have my pace. I’m excited to show what I can still do.
"We want to win things so I’m going to make sure I help the team as much as I can to achieve that."
Bale picked up a slight knee injury while on international duty with Wales and will likely not be match fit until mid-October.
However, when he does return, he's relishing a strike partnership with Harry Kane and Heung-min Son.
"I need to get fully fit. I haven’t trained since the Wales camp so I need to get on the training pitch," he added. Hopefully I can hit the ground running in my first game, whenever that may be.
"Harry's done incredibly well since he burst onto the scene and scored a lot of goals.
"To play with him and Son is an exciting prospect for all of us. We all want to chip in to help each other but our main goal will be to do as much as we can for the team.
"If we're all pushing in the same direction it could be a very exciting season.
"This club deserves a trophy. It’s been going in the right direction but a bit of silverware now is what we need and we have to strive for that."
