Gareth Bale lands at Luton airport ahead of Tottenham move

Gareth Bale was seen sporting a big smile as he landed at Luton airport on Daniel Levy’s private jet ready to sign the contract to seal his return to Tottenham. 

Sportsmail exclusively revealed on Wednesday that Bale has agreed a season-long loan deal to return to north London.

He will earn more than £13million in wages as part of the one-year deal negotiated by Tottenham chairman Levy.  After flying into Luton shortly after midday on Friday, he will be driven to the club’s Enfield training base to sign his deal before he is unveiled.

Bale was pictured leaving the aircraft shortly after 12.30pm as he heads to sign his contract 

The two players made the morning flight from Madrid together on Daniel Levy’s private jet

One fan tracked the flight to Luton and managed to secure a selfie with the 31-year-old

Bale was on the jet with team-mate Sergio Reguilon, who is also joining Spurs this summer

Levy was pictured arriving bright and early at Tottenham’s Enfield training base earlier on Friday morning as he sits tight to announce Bale’s return to the club.  

Bale said goodbye to his team-mates at Real’s Valdebebas training facility on Thursday and wasted no time on Friday in heading for the airport.  

Levy was temperature tested by security staff on his arrival as part of ongoing protocol amid the coronavirus pandemic.  

Bale was earlier spotted driving into a private airport terminal in Madrid on Friday morning

Bale and team-mate Sergio Reguilon boarded the flight from Madrid and landed mid-afternoon

Tottenham chairman Levy was seen biting his nails as he arrived for work on Friday morning

He was temperature tested by security staff at the Enfield base as part of added precautions

It is believed Levy sorted a large portion of the deal on Tuesday with Jose Mourinho a driving force in helping move it along following their opening day defeat to Everton in the Premier League. 

A few minor formalities were completed on Thursday and all that is left is for Bale to arrive back in north London and sign. 

Even with the deal close to completion, Mourinho refused to be drawn into public comment on the Bale move after Thursday night’s 2-1 Europa League victory against Lokomotiv Plovdiv in Bulgaria.

Bale became a fan favourite at Spurs where he scored 56 goals and provided 58 assists

‘I can’t comment,’ he said. ‘I don’t comment on something that I don’t know. For me, at this moment, until Gareth Bale is a Tottenham player I still think and respect the fact that he is a Real Madrid player. 

‘I am not going to comment on a Real Madrid player.’ 

Bale became a fan favourite at Spurs where he scored 56 goals and provided 58 assists in 203 appearances.

In 2012-13 he was crowned Tottenham’s Player of the Year and also claimed the PFA Players’ Player of the Year, PFA Young Player of the Year, Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season award. 

Mourinho has been a long-term admirer of Bale and has tried to sign him multiple times

Relations soured between Bale and Zinedine Zidane and he almost left for China last summer

He was the Premier League’s most impressive player and Real Madrid were aggressive in the transfer market in bringing him in to partner Cristiano Ronaldo at the Santiago Bernabeu. 

The Welshman has won four Champions League titles since making the move to Spain but has found life tough under Zinedine Zidane. 

The French boss has struggled to take to Bale and has largely kept him out of the side since returning for his second spell in charge. 

Bale saw a move to the Chinese Super League collapse last summer but having played such a peripheral role in their title win last season, both the club and the player have concluded it is best for him to move, at least temporarily, elsewhere to return to his best.  

Bale was filmed arriving at Real Madrid’s training ground on Thursday morning to sort his exit