Mourinho: No discussion on Bale yet
Jose Mourinho says there has not been any discussion about loanee Gareth Bale’s future at Tottenham.
Bale is on a season-long loan from Real Madrid with an option for a second year, but has yet to make a major impact.
Reports emerged on Friday suggesting Spurs already decided they will not look to keep Bale next season.
But when the matter was put to Spurs head coach Mourinho, he said: “There was not even a second of discussion about that.
“Gareth is a player on loan until the end of the season. We are speaking about Gareth himself, Tottenham, Real Madrid.
“But, I promise you, not one second of discussion.”
Hampered by illness and injury, Bale has played just 45 minutes in the Premier League since November 8, although he has featured more regularly in the Europa League.
Mourinho added: “He arrived injured and was injured I believe for the first month.
“The Europa League matches were helping him to get his condition.
3:06 “Europa League group phase is a different level than the Premier League – the [Europa League] knockout is a different story, but the group phase is a different intensity.
“The Premier League he didn’t play many minutes, [then] another small injury at Stoke [in the Carabao Cup] where he was having a good first half.
“[It’s] not an easy process. Everybody knew that in the past couple of seasons in Madrid, they were not easy for him, so let’s go step by step and try to get the best out of him.”