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Mourinho gives his verdict on Bale’s progress at Tottenham

Gareth Bale, Jose Mourinho, Tottenham
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The Real Madrid loanee has made four direct goal contributions in his last three appearances for Spurs in all competitions.

Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho believes Gareth Bale is ‘happier than ever’ and has rediscovered his confidence, while also suggesting the Welshman could soon play a bigger role in the team.

Despite an underwhelming return to Spurs, on loan from Real Madrid, Bale has looked promising recently. The 31-year-old’s injury problems seem to be behind him, and he has looked much sharper on the pitch compared to earlier in the season.

Bale’s improved fitness has led to an improvement in performances, having managed two goals and two assists in his last three appearances. The winger will now hope to break into Mourinho’s line-up regularly.

“He looks happier than ever, he looks confident,” said Mourinho as quoted on Goal.“In training, you can see he has his confidence back, the way he hits his shots.

“You could see from his goal on Wednesday [in the 4-0 win over Wolfsberger AC]. It was a confident shot. A player with fear or negative feelings would never have hit that type of shot. To strike the ball that way, I think that strike means a lot.

“It means freedom in relation to the brain muscle. For this, you need to be in a good condition. He is in the best condition since he arrived.”

Mourinho added: “Of course we have very important Premier League matches, a crucial final, and crucial every minute of every game in the Europa League, so the more that we have Gareth, a player with his quality and confidence and experience and his know-how of big moments, the better.”

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