Jose Mourinho has said he doesn't know when Gareth Bale will be fit enough to play for Tottenham.
It is understood that Tottenham expect Bale to return after the next international break, in three weeks' time.
It might feel like we just had an international break, and that'd be because we did. And there's another one coming in early October, with England playing Wales on Thursday 8th October. It is possible, therefore, that Bale will play for Wales before he plays for Tottenham.
Bale completed his return to Spurs on loan on Saturday, seven years for leaving the club for Real Madrid.
He returns a four time Champions League winner and two time Spanish Champion, hoping to bring trophies to Spurs, as he said seven times in his first interview with the club.
But will have to wait a few weeks before he gets to make his 204th appearance for the Lilywhites.
“I don’t know when Gareth can be back,” Mourinho said in his press conference ahead of Tottenham's Carabao Cup tie against Leyton Orient.
Mourinho did suggest that Bale's love for Tottenham could motivate the winger into an early comeback form injury.
“The only thing that I know is that the motivation is high," he said.
"He is so happy to be with a club of his heart, he is so happy to play for us and when a player has this motivation, many, many times you can shorten the period of recovering and shorten the period of getting fit and ready to play and we want to help him.
"So when he is available to train with the team, we are more than happy to have him and to be back to a level that [is] maybe one of the best players in the world.”
Bale is lacking fitness after only taking part in nine matches this calendar year and picking up a knock on international duty earlier this month.
He only made two appearances for Real Madrid after LaLiga restarted in the summer, and two appearances for Wales, playing just one half in the first and completing the full 90 in the second.
Mourinho also said that star striker Harry Kane would start against Orient on Tuesday, claiming the player knows his body better than the medical team at the club.
"I want Harry to play. That's if he feels he can, if he feels ready to do it. He's an experienced player and he knows his body better than any of the sports science guys or any medical guy and if he's ready to play it's possible," he said.
Kane got four assists and one goal in Spurs' 5-2 drubbing of Southampton on Sunday and with two games midweek before another on Sunday, it was expected that Mourinho would rotate his team.
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