Gareth Bale completed his emotional return to Tottenham on Wednesday night in a move that was driven by Jose Mourinho.
The Wales international has agreed terms on a year-long deal that Sportsmail understands to be worth more than £13million – part of which will be financed by Real Madrid – and he is relishing the prospect of relaunching his career at the club that propelled him to stardom.
There is no indication yet as to when Tottenham – who face Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Europa League on Thursday – will make an official announcement but it will happen once a few minor contractual issues are signed.
Bale’s return to North London, seven years after he was sold to Madrid for a the world record fee of £90m, is laced with sentiment but it was a move that Mourinho, Tottenham’s manager, felt was absolutely imperative following his side’s dismal 1-0 defeat to Everton last Sunday.
Mourinho was adamant that Tottenham needed Bale’s drive and dynamism to enliven Tottenham’s attack and negotiations accelerated following discussion with Chairman Daniel Levy.
It is understood no players will go in the opposite direction.
The deal for Bale stands as a separate transaction as Tottenham will also move for Sergio Reguilon, Real Madrid’s left-back who has also been linked with Manchester United, on Thursday.
He is due to undergo a medical and will sign a five-year deal with Tottenham, paying £27million fee.
Mourinho had been coy earlier in the day when quizzed on how close a deal was to bring Bale back to north London.
While initially intimating he would make no comment, the Portuguese eventually revealed his admiration for the Welshman – a nod to how much he wanted to get the player.
‘I tried to sign him for Real Madrid which was not possible to do during my time there,’ Mourinho said in his Wednesday press conference. ‘But the president followed my instinct and my knowledge and the season I left he brought Gareth to the club.
There is no secret on that. Even Gareth knows that. But I’m not going to speak about him anymore because he is a Real Madrid player.’
Eric Dier, who will now become a team-mate of Bale’s, insisted prior to Sportsmail’s exclusive story confirming the deal that the players had not discussed Bale’s return in their squad WhatsApp chat.
But the defender described it as an ‘extremely exciting’ time for the club to bring back one of the game’s finest attackers.
‘From the fans’ point of view, when you’re linked with a player of that level, it’s extremely exciting for any club,’ Dier said.
‘For me personally it doesn’t really effect me in any way. It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last time.
‘There’s constantly speculation about people going different places, different talk in football every day.’
Bale became a fan favourite at Spurs where he scored 56 goals and provided 58 assists in 203 appearances.
In 2012-13 he was crowned Tottenham’s Player of the Year and also claimed the PFA Players’ Player of the Year, PFA Young Player of the Year, Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season award.
He was the Premier League’s most impressive player and Real Madrid were aggressive in the transfer market in bringing him in to partner Cristiano Ronaldo at the Santiago Bernabeu.