Tottenham coach, Mourinho speaks on signing Gareth Bale

Tottenham Hotspur manager, Jose Mourinho, has insisted that he tried to sign winger, Gareth Bale, for Real Madrid before the Welsh international made the switch from Spurs.

Mourinho also refused to confirm reports he wants to bring Bale back to Tottenham this summer.

Bale, 31, joined Madrid in 2013, the same summer Mourinho departed the La Liga champions after three years at the Santiago Bernabeu.

“I do not comment on hypothetical stuff. Gareth Bale is a Real Madrid player,” Mourinho said when asked about Tottenham’s interest in Bale at a press conference on Wednesday ahead of his side’s Europa League clash with Lokomotiv Plovdiv on Thursday.

“It is not my job to have contact with agents, I do not want to comment on that, especially on players at other clubs.

“I tried to sign him for Real Madrid, which was not possible during my time there. But the president followed my instinct and followed my knowledge and the season I left he brought Gareth to the club.

“That’s no secret and Gareth knows that.”