Dimitar Berbatov has indicated that Gareth Bale will not be a Tottenham player next season if his current situation in north London continues.
Finally linking up with the club again in summer after plenty of speculation in previous years about a return from Real Madrid, the attacker has only made 15 appearances for the club so far due to injury and fitness issues.
Absent from the squad in midweek for the FA Cup defeat at Everton after telling Jose Mourinho he wanted to work with the club's sports science people following a muscle issue, all eyes will be on the Tottenham travelling party for the Man City game on Saturday night to see if the player is available for selection once again.
Speaking to Betfair about his former Spurs teammate, Berbatov has given his thoughts on the "nightmare" move and has stated that he doesn't see how there can be a happy ending for both the club and Bale.
"A lot has been said about Gareth Bale following Mourinho's comments after Bale ruled himself out of playing in Spurs' 5-4 defeat to Everton in the FA Cup," said the Bulgarian.
"If Bale had a scan and there was a problem that may lead to an injury then I can understand why he didn't want to play. If there was nothing, and he was free to play, then his desire not to play is a problem.
"What does it mean to say you're too uncomfortable to play if you are not injured? It must be translated as something, I don't know what that may be, but the situation is complicated and obviously Mourinho isn't happy.
"Bale's return started with a lot of fanfare, but it's slowly but surely turning out to be a nightmare. It's a bad situation for the team, for the player and for the manager, and that isn't pleasant to see and watch.
"Honestly, I don't see how this situation can be resolved, from what I have seen so far from Bale there is something lacking there, and I don't see how there can be a happy ending. It's a weird situation.
"If the situation continues like this then obviously he isn't going to stay and he will go back to Real Madrid and see his contract out. Then, it's about where he will go next.
"I like Gareth, I like how he played football but at the moment he's far away from his best and we can all see that.
"If he doesn't find his rhythm, which he can only find by starting games, then he will be going back to Madrid.
"These things happen all the time in football and, seeing what he went through over the years at Madrid, playing, not playing, being abused by the media and fans, it's obvious that he won't care and he'll fulfil his contract until the end."
