Tottenham star Gareth Bale may never recapture the form that saw him earn him what was then a world-record £86million move to Real Madrid, according to his former team-mate Darren Bent.
The Welsh winger put in some scintillating displays for Spurs in his first stint at the club between 2007 and 2013, catching the eye of LaLiga giants Real.
Tottenham lost one of their star players seven years ago but he returned to north London this summer on a season-long loan after being frozen out in the Spanish capital.
However Bent, who played alongside Bale for two years at White Hart Lane, has expressed doubt over whether the player that impressed for Spurs and for large parts at Real will ever get back to his best.
'It's a gradual process but at the same time it's a year loan,' Bent told talkSPORT. 'For me, the question you've got to ask is how long is [Jose] Mourinho prepared to give him before he goes "this is not working".
'All the talk has been about Son [Heung-min] and [Harry] Kane being superb, but when they get Bale back, when Bale gets back to himself, Bale this and Bale that. But right now he's nowhere near the Bale we can remember.
'He's not played consistently for about three years and he's had big injuries as well, so that Bale may never come back.'
Bale is yet to play a full 90 minutes for Mourinho's side this season and most of his game time has come in the Europa League as he continued to work his way up to complete match fitness.
Two of Bales's best moments in a Tottenham shirt came against Inter Milan when he terrorised right back Maicon in the Champions League a decade ago.
For Real he has scored an impressive 105 goals in 251 appearances and was part of the side that won the Champions League four times in five years. He scored in the 2014 final and netted a second-half brace after coming off the bench, which featured a sensational overhead kick, against Liverpool in the 2018 showdown.
He has fallen out favour under manager Zidane as things have turned sour for the winger at the Bernabeu in recent years.
Prior to his Spurs comeback Bale, who has also been hindered by multiple injuries in his career, pleaded with the Spanish giants to let him depart after they thwarted his mega-money switch to China back in January.
He has bagged one goal in seven matches for Tottenham this campaign but Bent has raised the idea that the club and fans may run out of patience.
'Do you think there’s a point in the season where he could become a distraction? They have to make a decision,' he added. 'It's a year loan and if it continues like this what do Spurs do? Send him back to Madrid or keep him?
'So for me how long are they going to give him and how long are the fans going to give him before they go ‘listen, we can’t keep waiting on him to come back… [Steven] Bergwijn needs to be playing and Lucas Moura need to be playing.
'It’s kind of a strange one, but at the minute the signs don’t look great.'