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Gareth Bale “probably” will make his second Tottenham debut against West Ham on Sunday, says José Mourinho.
Bale, 31, has continued to recover from a knee injury since rejoining Spurs on loan from Real Madrid in September.
The Wales international has been involved in full training for the past two weeks, and Spurs coach Mourinho said he is in “good condition”.
“He’ll probably play Sunday, if he won’t on Thursday,” he said.
“It’s very, very close.”
Tottenham face Austrian club LASK in their first Europa League Group J match on Thursday.
Mourinho added: “Of course he wants to play. He has wanted to play since the day he arrived but it was not possible. I am not going to tell you if he is going to play or not.”
“What I’m going to tell you is that he’s working really well. He’s working the way that he probably hasn’t been able to for some time.
“The planning of the last sessions was very focused on him. His condition is good.
“Does he play on Sunday or Thursday? We haven’t made a decision yet. Every player is a very important player, but Gareth’s situation is very special because of history. We care about him as much as he does about Tottenham.”
Mourinho added that the club was “happy” to see Bale smiling and laughing in training after becoming a marginal figure in Spain.
“It was great to hear from Sergio Reguilón, who was in the dressing room with him in Madrid, that Gareth seems like a different guy,” he said.
“If you can go home and share that happiness with your family, that’s great.”
Mourinho also confirmed that forward Harry Kane is available for Sunday after returning from international duty to England, but Eric Dier is a doubt after suffering an injury.
Giovani lo Celso and Japhet Tanganga are also out with injuries.
