The time has come for one particular Tottenham Hotspur player to finally deliver.
At least that’s the message that Jose Mourinho has put across quite strongly in the lead up to the game against Brighton and Hove Albion.
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With Harry Kane expected to be out for weeks because of injuries to both his ankles, the Portuguese is looking for Gareth Bale to finally come good.
The Welshman returned amid a huge fanfare back in September, but the prodigal son has scored just once in the Premier League since his return and played a total of 170 top-flight minutes across five games.
“It’s a crucial moment for him (Bale), he’s feeling better and better,” Mourinho said during a press conference reported by AS.
“When you lose a player of Harry’s (Kane) quality and dimension, the other guys have to step up and hopefully he can help us.”
At this stage, there’s not too much doubt that Bale will be returned to Real Madrid at the end of this season.
If he’s able to produce some of his early Los Blancos form or that which he showed for Spurs which encouraged the Spanish giants to buy him in the first place, however, Bale could well become the talisman that everyone was expecting when he put pen to paper.