Mark Hughes says Gareth Bale didn’t enjoy his time on loan at Tottenham and might return to the Premier League but to play for another team.
Bale joined Spurs on loan from Real Madrid last summer as he looked to get more playing time ahead of the Euros.
The attacker had fallen down the pecking order at Madrid and needed a place where he could be relevant again.
Spurs secured his signature temporarily for a season and had hoped that he would combine well with their attackers to lead them to a trophy.
He struggled to play at the start of his return under Jose Mourinho, who didn’t think he was ready to produce what he wanted.
The Portuguese restricted his first-team chances until Spurs fired him last month.
Bale has returned to Madrid and may leave the Spanish side again next season if their new manager doesn’t guarantee him regular playing time.
Hughes says he will, however, not return to Tottenham because this season didn’t quite work out well for him.
“I hope so I think he’s an outstanding player,” Hughes said on Sky Sports when asked if Bale will remain in the Premier League.
“It all depends on his situation at Real Madrid. I would love to see him playing week in week out in the Premier League, I think we need players such as Bale. It doesn’t look as if it’s worked out as well as everybody expected it to [at Tottenham].
“He didn’t get the game time under Jose Mourinho that he would have liked for whatever reason. Gareth is one of those players who needs to be happy and comfortable in his surroundings and maybe sometimes this year at Tottenham surprisingly I don’t think he has been. It’s only in recent weeks that he’s been playing with a smile on his face.”