Gareth Bale and Real Madrid are one of the most interesting stories in world football. Of course, once the most expensive player on the planet, the Welshman is now reduced to yawning in the stands and rarely getting the chance to play.

His relationship with the gaffer, Zinedine Zidane, is practically non-existent but for one reason or the other, Los Blancos were never really keen to see him leave. Until now, that is.

According to the latest report from The Telegraph, Real Madrid are finally ready to facilitate the winger's departure and would even pay half his wages just to make it happen.

This, of course, would be a huge boost for the likes of Tottenham Hotspur or even Manchester United who were touted as interested parties. Jose Mourinho is an admirer but Bale's wages and a potentially astronomical price tag were the main obstacles.

Spurs are not exactly blessed with a full warchest but if Real really do pay half of the Welshman's reported £600,000-a-week wage, maybe a window suddenly opens for them to strike.

Even though the Spanish champions are not in a financial crisis like most of the footballing world, keeping such an expensive player only for him to play golf and warm the bench is not exactly an ideal scenario.

Offloading him to the Premier League, on the other hand, might be.

But it will be up to Daniel Levy to sanction such a move first.

Verdict

This is not the first time we talk about Bale potentially returning to Spurs and until he finally makes the move and leaves Madrid, the stories are going to keep on appearing.

But maybe Mourinho needs such a superstar in the team after all. He's got Harry Kane, of course, but adding a bit more firepower would surely go a long way to helping Spurs finally reach for the stars.