Gareth Bale

[Rammyblues]

So while Barca parade Neymar as the world star they have bought, Real Madrid have as yet bought a Galactico this summer, they have acquired some sensational young talent, with the money from Higuain, if they sell us just Coentrao for 15m it would mean they would only have to stump up something like 40m for him which is peanuts for them.

 

[Marvin]

I don't think it's possible that City could have signed Bale even if we wanted to, but given a choice would you spend £85m on

1) Bale

2) Navas, Negredo, Jovetic, Fernandinho

Option 2 every time. Those people who think Spurs are finished if Bale goes should reflect on that.

If you are a Real Madrid or Bayern Munich with a great team, then you look at Bale or World Class players, but for most clubs, it's a better option to buy 2-3 players instead.

Spurs fans should enjoy him while it lasts, as I am sure they will and pray that if they have to sell him, he leaves at a time when Spurs are in the top 4 so that the top players will readily sign for Spurs

 

[Malty]

He should go to Madrid to grow and make the huge jump, show British players can be successful at the biggest clubs in Europe.

 

[ped]

I don't think it's possible that City could have signed Bale even if we wanted to, but given a choice would you spend £85m on

1) Bale

2) Navas, Negredo, Jovetic, Fernandinho

Option 2 every time. Those people who think Spurs are finished if Bale goes should reflect on that.

If you are a Real Madrid or Bayern Munich with a great team, then you look at Bale or World Class players, but for most clubs, it's a better option to buy 2-3 players instead.

Spurs fans should enjoy him while it lasts, as I am sure they will and pray that if they have to sell him, he leaves at a time when Spurs are in the top 4 so that the top players will readily sign for Spurs

problem is spurs are running out of time and options

 

[adrianr]

I don't think it's possible that City could have signed Bale even if we wanted to, but given a choice would you spend £85m on

1) Bale

2) Navas, Negredo, Jovetic, Fernandinho

Option 2 every time. Those people who think Spurs are finished if Bale goes should reflect on that.

If you are a Real Madrid or Bayern Munich with a great team, then you look at Bale or World Class players, but for most clubs, it's a better option to buy 2-3 players instead.

Spurs fans should enjoy him while it lasts, as I am sure they will and pray that if they have to sell him, he leaves at a time when Spurs are in the top 4 so that the top players will readily sign for Spurs

problem is spurs are running out of time and options

Exactly. Always tricky if you're in that position though - Do you bring in your signings early doors spending money you haven't received yet, or wait until Bale is gone and watch every club add 10m to the price because they know you've just come into a huge windfall?

 

[Andouble]

Have to keep him this summer now, not enough time to bring in quality replacements with the season 3 weeks out, especially the way Levy negotiates.

 

[waspish]

Gareth Bale has been left distraught by the refusal of Daniel Levy, the Tottenham Hotspur chairman, to consider a world record €100m – £86.3m – offer from Real Madrid.

Real have made their move for their long-time target and Bale is determined to complete the transfer. He wants to play Champions League football, which Tottenham cannot offer after they finished fifth in the Premier League last season, but the allure of Real runs some way deeper.

Bale recognises Real as one of the world's leading clubs, capable of competing for the grandest prizes. In the event of leaving Tottenham, whom he joined from Southampton in 2007, he has always dreamed of playing for the Bernabéu club.

He has enjoyed his six years at White Hart Lane, where he is feted by the supporters, but feels that the time is right to move on. It is impossible to dispute the value and service that he has given to the club, with last season being his best. The 24-year-old scored 26 goals in all competitions and swept the individual awards, being named as the PFA's player and young player of the year and the Football Writers' Association player of the year.

Bale is horrified by Levy's intransigence. The chairman has the reputation as a tough negotiator but to Bale, the offer from Real is one that should be impossible to refuse. The world record transfer is Cristiano Ronaldo's £80m move to Real from Manchester United in 2009.

Bale cannot believe that Levy is blocking what could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, with the chairman merely maintaining that his prized asset is not for sale. Bale's worth to André Villas-Boas's team is obvious but the Wales international feels that there comes a point when it is unfair to hold somebody to the terms of his contract. His deal has three years to run.

The situation has got under Bale's skin and it is threatening to turn ugly. He has had a glute muscle problem, which has restricted him in pre-season, but it has come to feel slightly convenient as he has been in no frame of mind to play. Bale featured in the club's opening friendly against Swindon Town but he missed the game against Colchester United and, although he travelled to Hong Kong for the Asia Trophy, he has not trained and he missed Tottenham's matches against Sunderland and South China.

Villas-Boas said after his team's 6-0 win over South China on Saturday that he expected Bale to return to training on Wednesday and be available for the friendly against Monaco at the Stade Louis II on Saturday. But it is highly unlikely that he will play.

Villas-Boas has been exasperated at the persistent questions over Bale's future but it felt as though his tone had changed at his press conference following the South China match. He has towed the line about Bale not being for sale and repeatedly stated that his information is that it is impossible for a deal to be struck with a rival club.

But in Hong Kong on Saturday, he was reticent, refusing to deny that Real had made a bid for Bale and also refusing to be drawn on reports from Spain that the player was pressing for the move. "I don't want to comment on anything like that," Villas-Boas said. "I cannot speak about anything." The manager gave the same response to a question about Real's conduct.

Tottenham used Bale at a promotional launch for their new kit at the beginning of the month and he talked of wanting to help the club finish in the Champions League places, which raised hopes that he could yet snub Real's advances.

Only on Friday, Villas-Boas said that talks were "ongoing" with Bale's representative about the possibility of the player signing a new deal at White Hart Lane. But there have been no such negotiations and Bale's mind is made up about his next move.

Tottenham continue to press ahead with business for the new season and they are close to finalising the transfer of the ¤30m-rated Valencia striker Roberto Soldado. They have already signed the midfielder Paulinho for a club-record £17m from Corinthians and the winger Nacer Chadli for £7m from FC Twente.

Additional reporting by Jamie Jackson in Hong Kong

 

[nomorethaksintimes]

Levy is a great negotiator - much like the Napoli chairman - but if he has really turned down £86m from Real then that's a very risky/overly greedy move. He's potentially forcing Bale into a corner where he might hand in a transfer request or let it affect his performances. It's not like he can really play rival bidders off each other if that's what Real have offered - United are way out of the race.

Didn't Levy turn down a ridiculous Chelsea offer from Modric only to sell him for considerably less the following year? Tottenham aren't challenging for the title so in my opinion securing Top 4 should be their priority. They have a much better chance of doing that if they spend the Bale money on bringing in 3/4 quality players. Soldado/Banega/Shaqiri/Papadopulos and they're laughing. The reason a team like Real will pay so much for Bale is partly because they already have amazing players and he is one of a very very small number who would be a genuine upgrade. Spurs on the other hand could easily improve their squad all over the shop.

There's still enough time to do that. They should look at how much better the Napoli squad is post-Cavani and try and replicate a similar transfer strategy before it's too late.

 

[vaziooo]

85 mil for Bale is ridiculous. Ronaldo went for 80 and Bale doesn't have half of his tallent nor his CV. When tranny left he was champion of England, champions league winner and 40+ goals per season player. Levy would be mad to turn that down

 

[southern muppet]

If (and it's a big if) the £86.1m Real Madrid bid is real and has been turned down, Daniel Levy has gone from being a tough businessman you'd love to have fighting your corner, to a blindly stubborn idiot in my mind.

There's only two reasons to play hardball, to make them up their fee (not gonna happen, €100m is already staggering) or because he believes the value of keeping Bale for another season is worth more than that to Spurs - which it clearly isn't. They could finish in the CL spots this season and then WIN it the following year and still not have made that much in revenue from the prize money and TV pot.

They will sorely regret it if they've really turned that kind of bid down.