Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho has been left "furious" by an Instagram post from Wales star Gareth Bale.
The pair's relationship took another sour turn on Wednesday night, when the 31-year-old was absent from Spurs' squad for their FA Cup clash with Everton at Goodison Park.
His absence was shrouded in mystery, with Mourinho explaining after the match that the Welshman was "not feeling comfortable".
Mourinho said following his side' 5-4 defeat to the Toffees: “I think it is better for me to say: we played against West Brom on the Sunday and he didn’t play, he was on the bench. Monday I was a bit surprised by him wanting to have a scan because he was not feeling comfortable.
“He didn’t train on Monday, then on the Tuesday he trained with the team but I was informed his desire would be to work with the sports science for a couple of days to strengthen that area where he was not feeling comfortable.
“That is the reason why he is not here. I don’t think it is an obvious injury, I would say he feels uncomfortable and because of that training session he couldn’t be 100%.”
That would appear to contradict what Bale wrote on Instagram the day before the match, with the on-loan Real Madrid posting a picture of himself in training with the words "Good session today" accompanied.
According to the Mirror, Mourinho has been "left furious" with the post, believing it paints him as the villain of the piece.
Bale's return to north London has not gone to plan.
He has made just 15 appearances so far this term – with six of those coming in the Europa League.
Former Spurs player and manager Glenn Hoddle says he has been left "very disappointed" by Bale's return.
“I’ve been very disappointed in him actually," he told talkSPORT.
"I think he needed five or six weeks to get up to match fitness, but I was very disappointed in him because he didn’t look as if he was able to get into a sprint and he looked a bit fragile mentally.
“Now, I think he’s looked in the mirror and said: ‘This isn’t good enough here.’
“To be fair to him, he could have had more goals [vs Wycombe in the FA Cup] and if he can get close to that performance against Premier League sides, he’ll get himself in and around the starting XI and that will give Tottenham even more of a dimension.”
