Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Freddie Keighley

Jose Mourinho has helped Gareth Bale "fall back in love with football" at Tottenham

Gareth Bale has "fallen back in love" with football thanks to his return to Tottenham under manager Jose Mourinho, says Wales assistant boss Robert Page.

Bale, 31, rejoined Spurs on a season-long loan from Real Madrid in September.

He arrived back in north London carrying a knee injury but has since returned to full fitness and made six appearances for the club.

The Wales star has cut a frustrated figure in the Spanish capital in recent seasons due to his public falling out with Los Blancos boss Zinedine Zidane.

In contrast, Bale celebrated emphatically as came off the bench to score the winner in the 2-1 win over Brighton earlier this month and Page believes he is once again relishing game time.

Bale is flourishing under a "manager who wants him", claims Page (Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I)

"He looks to me like he's enjoying his football," Page said . "He loves coming away with Wales. He absolutely loves it.

"As long as I've been involved he's never missed a camp, other than the recent one (in October) through injury.

"He's first through the doors, loves being part of it and he has a spring in his step when he comes on camp - and that's exactly what I've seen in the past couple of days.

How many goals will Bale score for Tottenham this season? Have your say here.

Bale celebrated emphatically after nodding in the winner against Brighton (Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I)
Page says Bale is looking as "sharp, bright and powerful" as ever (Action Images via Reuters)

"Now being at a place like Tottenham, he has a manager who wants him there and wants him to play week in, week out - or they are building him up to that where he plays 90 minutes consistently.

"We've now got a player on our hands that has fallen back in love with the game and is enjoying his football.

"Hopefully we will reap the rewards of that as well.

"The older you get, you do lose a little bit of sharpness. I experienced that myself as a player. I have not seen any evidence of that in the last two days of training.

"Some of the things I saw yesterday (Friday) was the other way. He's looking just as sharp, bright and powerful.

"He's in great shape and some of the things he did in training yesterday you took a step back. It was great to watch."

Sign up to the Mirror Football email here for the latest news and transfer gossip.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.