With Jose Mourinho banished from Tottenham, Gareth Bale is finally a free man again. It looked as though a heavy weight was lifted from his shoulders against Sheffield United and his brilliant hat-trick underlined his return to form.
His club now have a serious decision to make ahead of this summer. As reported by Sportsmail recently, Tottenham were able to secure first option to extend Bale's loan deal from Real Madrid into a second season.
The terms would require the forward's agreement, of course, but there is an increasing feeling the move may make sense.