Gareth Bale may need to consider taking the “easy option” of heading to MLS or China, admits Harry Redknapp, with the former Tottenham boss not convinced that Jose Mourinho ever wanted the Welshman back in north London.
A retracing of career steps was taken in by a 31-year-old forward during the summer of 2020.
Having seen a dream spell at Real Madrid turn into something of a nightmare, Bale jumped at the chance to rejoin the Premier League club that catapulted him to superstardom.
A season-long loan deal has not worked out as planned for all concerned, with more niggling fitness problems restricting a proven performer to just 14 appearances across all competitions.
Questions are now being asked of whether Bale will ever rediscover his spark, with Redknapp conceding that a star that once illuminated world football may now be on the wane.
The ex-Spurs boss has told Stadium Astro: “If he isn’t going to do it at Tottenham, where is he going to do it? Does he have to take the easy option of going to America or China to play?
“He is obviously not showing a lot to Jose to make him want to play him. He is bringing people on who, I’m not being disrespectful, couldn’t lace his boots. He’s been on another planet to them as a player.”
Erik Lamela was introduced ahead of Bale in Tottenham’s 3-1 defeat to Liverpool, as a Wales international saw just nine minutes off the bench, and Redknapp believes Mourinho has never been convinced by the four-time Champions League winner.
He added: “I don’t know whether he was Jose’s signing. Jose might think he doesn’t fancy him now, because he never plays him.
“To bring him on with 10 minutes to go was a token effort, the game was gone. To bring on people like Lamela before him, I doubt very much whether he was a Jose signing – it was more Daniel [Levy] bringing him back.”
Redknapp added on Bale’s demise, which has seen him struggle at Spurs on the back of being frozen out in Madrid by Zinedine Zidane: “He has got to show that he is worth a place. He has got to show that he can still do it, in training or whatever.
“I haven’t seen him explode, what he used to have. He was unplayable, he had a spell for me at Tottenham and then at Real Madrid where he was incredible. He hasn’t shown that.
“He looks like has hasn’t got that running power, that pace, at the moment. Everyone has a certain day when they hit a brick wall, maybe he has.”