£85m AND LEVY WILL TWITCH...
Levy as Real Madrid prepare to really test Tottenham with a bid that would smash the world record.
Levy insists he will not sell his star asset but Bale, 24, is demanding to know whether there has been any contact between Real and Spurs over his potential transfer to the Bernabeu.
Although he has not submitted a transfer request, it is now becoming a realistic option if he wants to pursue his ambition of playing for the world’s biggest team.
Real’s posturing has gone so far this
SKY summer that there is no turning back and they have little option but to make a written offer to Spurs. Many of Bale’s team-mates understand the lure of Real Madrid and expect him to leave if they match Spurs’ valuation.
Bale missed both matches in the Asia Trophy with a gluteal injury and flew back from Hong Kong last night with the team. They are scheduled to arrive in London this morning and will be given two days off by coach Andre Villas-Boas.
The PFA Player of the Year stopped to sign autographs as he boarded the team bus for the airport, but TV images appeared to show him looking miserable. He is due to return to training on Wednesday and is expected to be fit for Saturday’s friendly against Claudio Ranieri’s Monaco.
Spurs have told Bale to outline his salary demands as they open talks over a new contract extension but he is determined to get answers this week. He has three years left on a deal signed in 2012 which does not contain a release clause.
Levy is adamant that Bale, who scored 21 goals in the Premier League last season, will not be leaving this summer but despite that, there is a belief at White Hart Lane that a world record bid would change everything.
Real paid £80m to sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United i n 2009 and Madrid president Florentino Perez, who has made it clear he wants the Wales flyer, will have to offer around £85m for Levy to twitch. The Spanish club may try to offer a lower cash sum, perhaps £60m, plus players they know Spurs admire such as Argentina winger Angel di Maria and Portugal left back Fabio Coentrao, but that sort of exchange is sure to complicate negotiations.
It has also emerged that despite l ong- s t anding i nterest f r om Manchester United, Bale will only consider moving to the Bernabeu at this stage of his career.
Although Spurs are banking on his excellent relationship with Villas-Boas and his settled homelife, his agent’s company has an apartment in Marbella and Bale often spends time there when he is recovering from injury.
Real’s pursuit of Bale is so far advanced that they have already concluded background checks on the financial aspects of a deal, notably contractual obligations between Tottenham and Bale’s first club Southampton.
When Spurs signed Bale, they agreed to a 15 per cent sell- on clause. Although that was bought out by Spurs for £1.5m during a financial crisis at St Mary’s in 2007, FIFA solidarity clauses add to the complexity of their proposed bid.
Any club developing homegrown players between the age of 12 and 23 are entitled to up to five per cent of the transfer fee if the player subsequently moves to another team. Because Bale was on Southampton’s books between the ages of 12 and 17, they will be entitled to a mini windfall on a pro-rata basis of around £2m.
Bale is on around £80,000 a week at the moment and if he agrees an improved contract that will burst through their famous pay ceiling, Spurs will justify it because of his commercial importance to the club.
The player is plastered all over promotional material and the club will use that to justify a contract offer in excess of £150,000 a week.
That may still not be enough to keep him as Real continue their seduction campaign with the player’s agent.
Bale played i n Tottenham’s pre-season opener at Swindon and scored in the 1-1 draw but was said to be injured when he missed the draw at Colchester a few days before they left for Hong Kong.
Although many suspect the gluteal injury that kept him on the sidelines was ‘diplomatic’, it is understood the problem is genuine. Bale was frustrated as he travelled halfway around the world with his team and wanted to play in both tune-up games during their stay.
Spurs made an improved bid of £23m for Valencia forward Roberto Soldado over the weekend, with technical director Franco Baldini attempting to clinch the deal. Spurs were offered the 28-year-old for £15m in January but overlooked a player who went on to score 24 goals in La Liga. Soldado, who is rated at £26m, has 11 caps for Spain, scoring six goals.
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