Gareth Bale’s Tottenham future remains unclear after his agent played down the player’s comments about returning to Real Madrid this summer.
The Welsh winger returned to the north London club on loan this season but after an indifferent spell, admitted he expects to be a Madrid player once again next season.
However, Jonathan Barnett, who represents Bale, contradicted his client’s comments by suggesting it is ‘too early’ to know where the 31-year-old will be playing next season.
In comments reported by ESPN , Barnett also claimed that Bale’s words were ‘taken out of context’.
"There's no timescale. He is just concentrating on now," Barnett was quoted by BBC Sport .
Speaking on International duty with Wales, Bale had revealed he plans to head back to Spain once the one-year deal with Spurs is complete.
“The main reason I came to Spurs this season was to play football,” he told reporters ahead of his country’s match against Belgium.
“Going into the Euros I wanted to be match fit.
“The original plan was to only do a season at Spurs and after the Euros I still have a year at Madrid.
“My plan is obviously to go back.”
However, reports in Spain suggest Bale is not part of their plans going forward, with club intent on moving him on permanently in order to reduce their wage bill.
Bale originally spent six successful years at Spurs including a phenomenal 2012-13 season in which he scored 21 times and swept the player of the year awards in the league.
This led to a then-world record £89million move to Madrid, but despite playing a role in four Champions League triumphs, ultimately failed to settle in the Spanish capital.
Having the emotional return to north London, Bale’s form continued to stutter, making just 12 league appearances in an injury-hit campaign.
Despite his five goals so far, the player is yet to complete a full 90 minutes of Premier League football with Jose Mourinho wary of Bale’s ongoing fitness issues.
“At this moment he is here,” the Spurs boss said after the recent 4-0 win over Burnley in which Bale scored twice.
“He is happy and clean and hopefully we can manage his minutes, his matches and his feelings.
“And I repeat he is responsible. We give him that responsibility as he is the one who has the knowledge of his body and of course our communication is very very good.
"And we are managing the situation as best we can.”
