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Martin Keown has warned Tottenham attacker Gareth Bale about going gung-ho on his return to English football, but expects his Spurs boss Jose Mourinho to respond by managing his game-time.

Bale, 31, has rejoined the North London club on loan from Spanish giants Real Madrid and is in line to potentially make his second Spurs debut this weekend at home to West Ham on Sunday in the Premier League.

The left-footed winger watched on from the sidelines as his side were in excellent form prior to the international break and he will surely be desperate to get out there, where he could add even more attacking firepower to the XI.

Pundit and ex-Arsenal defender Keown has explained that Spurs may need to be a little more cautious with Bale, as he needs time for his body to physically adjust to life back in the Premier League and notes he’s played little football after a frustrating time last season where he played just 20 games across all competitions at Madrid.

“Bale has to be careful. Anyone who has appeared in both the Premier League and LaLiga will tell you which one is the more demanding and the Welshman hasn’t played regularly for some time,” Keown wrote in the Daily Mail.

“I’m sure Jose Mourinho will be thinking about managing his minutes and Spurs’ medical team will be all over it, too. He will want to get on the pitch and join the party but he needs to go easy. At 31, he is young enough to achieve big things with Tottenham.”

TBR’s View:

Despite all the excitement around Bale’s return to Spurs, it’s correct that they need to ease him action despite the fact he would surely play every single minute of every single game if he could.

There is real anticipation to see an attacking trio of Bale, Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son, which on paper looks as frightening as any in Europe and one that supporters are desperate for.

Mourinho will surely be looking at that as a possibility, but he’s also got the likes of Lucas Moura, Erik Lamela and Steven Bergwijn as wide options that he’ll need to rotate due to the sheer amount of fixtures in domestic and club competitions.

Spurs will play seven games before next month’s international break and Bale will get his opportunity to impress at some stage.