Reports in Spain are suggesting that Gareth Bale is about to complete a move to Real Madrid after telling club officials that he wants to leave Tottenham.
Spanish newspaper Marca has claimed that Bale will complete an £85m move to Spain, signing a six-year contract that will earn him in the region of £8.5m-a-year in wages. They go on to say that Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett has met with Real representatives to discuss a move.
Despite the speculation, Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas spoke this morning on the matter, and he indicated that the double award winner will not be leaving White Hart Lane this summer.
“I want to repeat what I was telling you last season and what I was telling you from the beginning of pre-season so I cannot extend myself,” Villas-Boas said when speaking about the future of Bale – who won both the Player and Young Player of the Year awards last season.
“He is a player that we are willing to continue to have, he’s a Tottenham player, he’s one of the most fantastic players in the world at the moment and we are counting on him for the future.
“Unfortunately against Sunderland he won’t be fit to play, he’s recovering from a knock he had in training so we expect him hopefully to have some involvement in the second game.”
Bale has been linked with a move to both Real and Manchester United, but reports of a £60m offer being prepared by United seemed some way short of Tottenham’s valuation of their prized-asset.
Spanish newspaper El Confidencial reported today that the La Liga side, now managed by former Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti, are finally ready to step up their pursuit of the sought after forward.
The Welsh wizard scored 21 goals in 34 Premier League outings last season in what was the latest in a string of impressive campaigns that has seen him rise to the top of the English game.
With his current form, many are mentioning his name along with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, although some areas of the game feel that he needs to leave Spurs in order to progress his talent and reach the very top.
Spurs have done business with Madrid before, having taken Luka Modric from the north London club in 2011 when the clubs announced that they had engaged in a “partnership agreement”.
Real’s president Florentino Perez tod Marca: "For those players and investments that generate and produce income, you can give everything in life. But we don't speak of Bale so much because he plays at a friendly club to us and they will be annoyed if we speak. I know their chairman well and he doesn't like these things."
Source:independent.co.uk