Gareth Bale may never recapture his best form that saw him become the world's most expensive player.
That's the frank assessment of former Tottenham team-mate Darren Bent, who believes the Welshman's best years are now likely to be behind him following his return to north London.
Bale is likely to start the Europa League clash with Linz tonight, but is yet to play a full 90 minutes under Spurs boss and long-term admirer Jose Mourinho, having spent a large chunk of his second spell in the English capital working his way back from a knee injury.
But while there are still real hopes that Bale will once again be firing on all cylinders soon, Bent is unsure if the 31-year old will ever hit be able to light up the Premier League in the same way as his hugely successful first spell with the club, adding that Mourinho's patience could soon run out.
"It's a gradual process but at the same time it's a year loan," Bent told talkSPORT. "For me, the question you've got to ask is how long is [Jose] Mourinho prepared to give him before he goes 'this is not working'.
"All the talk has been about Son [Heung-min] and [Harry] Kane being superb, but when they get Bale back, when Bale gets back to himself, Bale this and Bale that. But right now he's nowhere near the Bale we can remember.
"He's not played consistently for about three years and he's had big injuries as well, so that Bale may never come back."
Despite Bent's comments, Mourinho himself appears to be behind the Welshman, whom he says is undergoing a “physical evolution” at Spurs following his difficulties at Real Madrid.
“The only problem with Gareth is to get into the dynamic and the confidence of playing consecutive matches without any bad feeling or negative feeling, without any remembrance of the recent past when the condition was not the best and the fears were there,” he said.
“But now he has the chance of a physical evolution. He doesn’t need a tactical or a technical evolution. He just needs to get his confidence back about playing three matches in a week. It’s more about that [than anything else].”
