Jose Mourinho leaves Gareth Bale in stitches with golf joke about Spurs career

Jose Mourinho joked that Gareth Bale was already thinking about his golf career during their time together at Tottenham.

Mourinho was in charge of Spurs when Bale returned to north London for the 2020/21 season.

The Wales legend, on loan from Real Madrid, scored 15 goals in 32 appearances as Tottenham endured an underwhelming season that saw them come seventh in the Premier League.

By 2023, Bale would be retired and spending most of his time on the golf course, leaving Mourinho to poke fun at his commitment during their time together.

When reunited on TNT Sports before the Champions League final, which saw Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0, Mourinho said: “At that time, you were already thinking about winning Augusta!”

Augusta National is one of the most famous golf courses in the world and hosts the Masters every year.

Bale, standing alongside Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand, burst out laughing and responded: “Playing Augusta, maybe. Not winning!”

The former winger was taunted about his love of golf throughout his time at the Bernabeu, having infamously held a flag which read ‘Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order.”

During that year at Tottenham, Bale was seen with a laptop during a Wales friendly while the Masters was taking place, leading to speculation about whether he was watching the game in front of him or the golf.

He featured in a PGA Tour pro-am weeks after announcing his retirement from football at the age of 33.

Mourinho did concede that their time at Tottenham was deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic which saw matches played behind closed doors.

“That was not football. COVID, empty stadiums… that was not football,” the legendary boss said.

Meanwhile, Bale admitted that working alongside the famous Portuguese tactician was a dream come true.

“I loved working with Jose and it was a pleasure,” he said. “Something I always wanted to do was work with him.

“It was only for a short period of time at the end of my career, not in my prime. But the relationship we had was very good and I loved working with him.”