Speaking to Football Insider, Noel Whelan claimed that Gareth Bale's future at Tottenham Hotspur rests in the hands of Jose Mourinho.

According to the former Leeds United forward, Mourinho will have the final say as to whether Spurs make a summer move to re-sign Bale, and that Daniel Levy - who personally pushed for the 31-year-old's signing last summer, while the Tottenham manager was 'largely peripheral' in the deal - would give his full backing to the Portuguese should he indeed wish to keep the £18m-rated Welshman in north London for a further season.

Asked by Football Insider whether he believes Spurs will make a move to sign Bale once again this summer, Whelan said: "Yeah, you'd think so. I’m sure Jose will have the last say. He won't come down to peer pressure from fans or anybody else. Jose knows what he wants and the chairman will back that, I'm sure.

"As I say, there are no friends in football. There's no love just because you’ve been at a club before. Jose will choose what he feels best is best for Tottenham Hotspur. Gareth Bale's got until the end of the season to prove he's worthy of a contract."

Transfer Tavern Take

Having got off to a rather slow start following his return to Spurs, suffering a number of injury setbacks and scoring just one goal over his first seven Premier League appearances this season, Bale has burst into life in recent weeks, bagging four goals and providing two assists over his last four league fixtures. He also scored in both legs of the Europa League round of 32 win over Wolfsberger AC.

However, considering that Bale is paid roughly £240,000 per week by Spurs, more than what both Harry Kane and Son Heung-min - who have scored 16 and 13 Premier League goals respectively this season - receive from the club, it could be argued that the Welshman still has a lot more to do over what remains of the season to prove his worth to Tottenham in the long run.

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