Gareth Bale's agent Jonathan Barnett appeared to point the finger of blame at Jose Mourinho when asked why his client is not featuring more prominently for Tottenham.
The 31-year-old Welsh star made a high-profile return to Spurs on a season-long loan from Real Madrid over the summer.
But he has struggled to break into Mourinho's side, and has made just two starts in the Premier League all season.
There have been rumours of a bust-up between the Portuguese manager and Bale, with suggestions Mourinho has not been impressed with the winger's work-rate and desire.
And speaking at a Business of Football summit, Barnett gave a cagey answer to a question about Bale's lack of action.
"He's towards the end of his career. You'll have to ask Mourinho that," he said.
"When they say what's happened to him, he's won more trophies abroad than any player in British history. He's done very well financially, he has money for the rest of his life."
Bale was once again named as a substitute in Spurs' 3-0 defeat to Manchester City on Saturday, coming off the bench with 18 minutes to play.
And it will be intriguing to see if he is given an opportunity to impress when they take on Austrian side Wolfsberger in the Europa League on Thursday.
Speaking after the City game about the situation with Bale and fellow outcast Dele Alli, Mourinho said: "Good players when they are fit and when they are ready and when they can [play] are always welcome, always welcome.
"We coaches sometimes we can make wrong decisions, we all do, but not one of us is crazy.
"Not one of us says I don’t want this player to help me and the team when the player has the potential and the conditions he needs to do it.
"We miss Gio [Lo Celso] for a long, long time. We miss [Sergio] Reguilon for a few weeks. If we can have them back, if we can have Dele and Gareth fit and ready to play, it’s a big improvement in our squad."
