Pundit Jamie O’Hara believes Gareth Bale ‘disrespected’ Spurs with his comments about getting ‘match-fit’ for the Euros.
Earlier this week, the Welshman revealed his intent to return to Real Madrid at the end of the campaign.
His announcement essentially ended rumours of a permanent Spurs move.
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But Bale went further, hinting that he only signed on loan to get match-fit for the Euros.
Here’s what he said ahead of Wales’ match against Belgium: “There’s no distraction for me. I think the main reason I came to Spurs this year was to play football first and foremost.
“Going into the Euros I wanted to be match-fit. The original plan was to do a season at Spurs and after the Euros still have a year left at Real Madrid.
“My plan is to go back, that’s as far I have planned.”
Reacting to Bale’s comments, his former team-mate O’Hara told talkSPORT: “As players we’ve all said things in press conferences and thought, ‘I probably shouldn’t have said that’.
“I don’t think he’s meaning to be disrespectful to Spurs, because he’s done so well there over the years. But it was disrespectful.
“As Spurs fans we all loved him. In terms of what he’s done for Spurs, you can’t get away the fact he was the guy for a while, he was amazing.
“But has he tarnished his legacy?
“I’ve played with Gareth and I’ve always said this, he had a quiet arrogance about him. He believed in his own ability, he knew where he wanted to be. He didn’t go out with the lads or really mix with them too much, but he had a quiet arrogance over where he wanted to go as a football player.
“But I feel like when you start to come to the back-end of your career and you start going down, you’ve got to humble yourself a little bit and get in the real world, because you can tarnish a lot of the great things that you’ve done by saying something like he did.”
It’s unclear where Bale’s future lies once his contract expires at the Bernabeu. He’s unlikely to sign an extension due to his sour relationship with manager Zinedine Zidane.
A second Spurs return is now in doubt as a result of his recent comments.
Bale is expected to feature in Wales’ international friendly against Mexico on Saturday.
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