Gareth Bale clarifies comments on Tottenham future & Real Madrid return

Tottenham winger Gareth Bale has moved to clarify comments he made recently suggesting he planned to return to Real Madrid at the end of the season.

Bale, who returned to Spurs on a season-long loan from Real last summer, had just found his best form since coming back to England when he stated that his plan was to regain his fitness at Spurs before heading back to Madrid, seemingly ruling out a permanent switch.

His comments sent Spurs fans into a bit of a frenzy, but Bale has clarified that he was simply discussing the terms of his loan move and not discussing what he actually plans to do with his career.

"I think for me, first and foremost I still have this season, and I still have plenty of games to go before the Euros," he said in a press conference (via football.london). "Obviously, going into next season, legally my contract says I have to go back to Real Madrid, which is what I stated, which I don't think is being disrespectful to anybody. That's legally what I have to do.

"Real Madrid are, I guess, my parent club and as far as I agreed, I was at Tottenham on loan until the end of the season and I go back. That's the plan so far.

"The reason I left was because I wanted to play games and get match fit and enjoy my football. Obviously come the summer I will go back to Real Madrid and we'll go from there. I think the plan is to go back and then whether then I sit down with my agent is something we'll do in the summer."

Given Bale still has one year left on his contract, he's right to say that his future is still in Real's hands. However, Marca recently stated that the Spanish side are more than ready to cut ties with Bale, and the winger confessed that talks over his future will need to be held at some point.

"Of course I want to be playing, but other things might get in the way," he continued. "Obviously in football it's not just about what you want. It's the other side.

"So I'm just concentrating on this season. I have a big game tomorrow and a big end to the season with Tottenham and obviously the Euros in the summer.

"So for me in the summer, at the moment I don't need to worry about anything else apart from this season and regarding next season, after the Euros and my summer holiday, we'll sit down and we'll go through something then and hopefully we'll come up with a solution."

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