Former Wales boss Mark Hughes is hopeful that Gareth Bale will remain in the Premier League next season after his year on loan at Tottenham.
Tipped to return to England numerous times in the past following his 2013 switch to Real Madrid, Daniel Levy and Spurs finally struck an agreement with the Spanish giants last September to sign the player on loan.
Struggling for a starting spot under Jose Mourinho in the league, it was only in the final couple of months of the season when Bale got regular game time in the top flight and the goals flowed as a result.
As his 16 goals from 34 appearances in 2020/21 looks very impressive given his limited minutes, all Tottenham fans will be hoping that the Welshman returns to N17 in the summer rather than heading back to the Spanish capital.
With many expecting the 31-year-old to really excel at Tottenham right from the off, Hughes has admitted that Bale is a player who needs to be "happy and comfortable in his surroundings" but, surprisingly, that didn't always seem to be the case at Spurs throughout the season.
"I hope so I think he's an outstanding player," Hughes told Sky Sports News when asked if Bale will remain in the Premier League. "It all depends on his situation at Real Madrid, it seems that in recent years he's been quite strong that he's said he isn't going to be pushed out of Real Madrid and he's got a year left on his contract but wants to go on his terms.
"I would love to see him playing week in week out in the Premier League, I think we need players such as Bale playing in this league of ours.
"If I'm honest, it doesn't look as if it's worked out as well as everybody expected it to [at Tottenham]. He didn't get the game time under Jose Mourinho that he would have liked for whatever reason, when Gareth came back to the Premier League everybody was excited by that prospect.
"But it's only recently that he's been given good game time and then you can see the kind of quality that he can bring to a team.
"Gareth is one of those players who needs to be happy and comfortable in his surroundings and maybe sometimes this year at Tottenham surprisingly I don't think he has been.
"It's only in recent weeks that he's been playing with a smile on his face which is what we want as Welsh supporters."
