Ex-Tottenham striker Crouch picks out area Bale has improved the most after return from Real Madrid

Ex-Tottenham striker Peter Crouch has picked out the area that Gareth Bale has improved the most following his return from Real Madrid.

Bale made his way back to north London on a season-long loan from Madrid in September, having spent the last seven years of his career in La Liga.

The Wales international became a cult figure among Spurs fans during his first spell at the club, but they were powerless to prevent him leaving in 2013 when the Blancos came calling with a world-record bid.

Bale has since picked up four Champions Leagues and two Liga titles with Madrid while scoring over 100 goals, joining the list of Britain's greatest footballing exports in the process.

However, Zinedine Zidane was happy to sanction the 31-year-old's departure last month after exiling the winger from his first-team squad, with Jose Mourinho now hoping he can rediscover his best form to help Tottenham fight for major honours.

Bale re-opened his account for the Lilywhites when he directed a header past Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez to seal a 2-1 home victory after coming off the bench as a second-half substitute in the Premier League clash on Sunday.

Crouch has been generally impressed with the Madrid loanee's aerial prowess in his first four outings for Mourinho's side, and thinks he is a far more well-rounded player now than he was when he departed for Santiago Bernabeu.

“He’s definitely improved with his heading, I have to say," the former Spurs striker said on the BBC’s Match of the Day 2 programme. “He wasn’t a great header of the ball when I played with him. He started at left-back, has worked on his game and turned into a world-class player at Madrid.

“I think he’s realised he’s 6ft-plus, he’s big, strong and his technique is good – it was a fantastic header.

“It’s definitely something he’s worked on at Madrid. He’s definitely improved.

“He was always scoring goals from outside the box and he wanted to get maybe more scruffy goals. He’s definitely a different player now than the player who left to go to Madrid.”

Mourinho was very pleased with Bale's latest performance, and the ex-Madrid manager couldn't resist aiming a dig at his former employers over their treatment of the winger in his post-match interview.

"He deserves that [the goal]. When I have five minutes I'm going on Safari to look at the Madrid websites to see what they say about him," he said. "He knows that we care about him and he cares about the club. I think he's a perfect fit. He's very calm, very intelligent. I'm very pleased for him to score the winning goal."