By David Williams

Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho is hopeful Gareth Bale can stay at the club beyond his season-long loan deal.

The Wales captain has returned to Spurs on loan, seven years after leaving the north London club for Real Madrid in an £86m transfer.

Asked if Bale will stay at the club for more than a year, Mourinho said: “If everybody’s happy, it would be perfect.

“I didn’t speak with Zinedine (Zidane) but I believe that Zinedine is happy that he left, we are happy that he is here and Gareth, of course, is happy to be here, so hopefully at the end of the season we are all happy and he can stay with us.”

Mourinho also admitted he wanted to sign Bale while in charge at Real Madrid and Manchester United, but he has warned the 31-year-old he will have to earn his place in the Spurs team when he becomes fully fit.

“He knows that I wanted him at Real Madrid but in that season it wasn’t possible,” Mourinho said.

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“He also knows that there was a little bit of an open window to try to have him at Manchester United.”

Mourinho expects Dele Alli to still be at the club when the transfer window closes and will give him the chance to prove his worth.

Alli was taken off at half-time of the opening day defeat to Everton and left out of the following two games and has been linked with a move to Paris St Germain in recent days.

But he will travel to North Macedonia for the Europa League third-round qualifying clash against Shkendija on Thursday.

When asked if he expected Alli to stay, Mourinho told Sky Sports: “I believe, I can even say I am convinced, that he will be.”

The Portuguese added in a press conference previewing the game: “I always told (you) that he will have his opportunities, that (there’s) no problem at all to have him and, like every other player, performances are very important.

“He’s coming, he has a chance to play and it will be important for him to perform. It will be important for him and every other player, when the squad becomes competitive in many positions, it’s important for every player on the pitch to have an answer and perform.”

 

“The photo is done.” 📸✅

Jose Mourinho had a touching moment with a Macedonian journalist – whose late father idolised him – during his Zoom press conference on Wednesday…❤️ pic.twitter.com/wJ4dBbDWs2

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) September 23, 2020

Alli looked like he was going to be a key player when Mourinho arrived at the club as he scored four goals in the first four games of the Portuguese’s reign, but injuries and inconsistency has seen him slip down the pecking order.

He lasted only 45 minutes against Everton in the first Premier League match of the season and then did not feature at all in games against Lokomotiv Plovdiv and Southampton, instead training at the club’s Enfield base.

Mourinho says the onus is on Alli to prove his worth.

“There is a tendency now when a player performs or doesn’t perform to give responsibilities on coaches and some because they give him the right love, some because they give him the right stick,” he said.

“I always feel that 99 per cent of the responsibility is the player. I have 1 per cent. Me and my staff and the people that work with the players everyday. We have 1 per cent of that responsibility, 99 per cent of that belongs to them.

“We all know that since Dele arrived from MK Dons he had ups and downs, he had fabulous periods and also other periods where he disappeared from the top level of performances.

“With me it was not different than before. He had moments where he was so good and he also had moments when he was not so good.

“It is normal when you are in great form you play because you deserve because your production is big for the team. When you are not in a good moment, you don’t play and it is as simple as that.