Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton preview - Ginola warning for Spurs over Bale

Posted Sunday, April 07, 2013 by PA

Tottenham will be making another costly mistake if they do not break the bank to keep Gareth Bale this summer, according to former star David Ginola.

Ginola became a Tottenham icon during his three-year spell at Spurs, terrorising full-backs on the same left wing where Bale has done most of his damage this season.

The Welshman has scored 27 goals for club and country this season, prompting speculation that Real Madrid will bid for the 23-year-old star.

Bale will be out for two weeks after he suffered an ankle injury against Basle on Thursday, ruling him out of the clash with Everton on Sunday, but Ginola still expects a flood of big-money offers, including one from Paris Saint Germain, to come in for the pacy forward this summer.

"They are going to have offers on the table, but if you want to keep being successful it is important that you keep your best assets and Gareth Bale is one of them," said Ginola, who played 127 times for Spurs.

"Spurs have made mistakes in the past like selling Berbatov, Modric and Rafael van der Vaart. Let's not do mistakes any more.

"Last summer they were minus two very important key players and they had to rebuild the midfield."

Although Bale only signed a new four-year contract last summer, it has been reported that Spurs are willing to sit down with their star man and discuss the possibility of a new deal.

Spurs are unwilling to smash their pay ceiling to shell out the huge sums of money on offer at Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea.

Ginola thinks they must make an exception for Bale given his importance to the squad.

"You have to break the piggy bank and spend it on Bale," the former Newcastle man said. "It will be a question of money. Knowing the salary cap at Spurs it will be complicated because if you are a player you can get an offer from a club that is four or five times more than you currently earn, but he is a Spurs player and he could still be over the next few years."

Winger Aaron Lennon and defender William Gallas will have scans on the respective knee and calf injuries they suffered against the Swiss champions.

Midfielder Sandro (knee), striker Jermain Defoe (pelvis) and defender Younes Kaboul (knee) are unavailable.

David Moyes claims the more high-profile games the better for Everton - although the Toffees chief would be happy staying under the Champions League radar for another couple of weeks.

The battle to claim a coveted top-four berth has crystallised into discussion over who will get squeezed out from the London trio of Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal.

Presently six points behind with a game in hand, Everton would move to within striking distance if they were able to win at White Hart Lane ths weekend.

It is a situation Moyes relishes. But he is not ready to blow his side's cover just yet.

"At the moment I am happy to stay under the radar," said Moyes. "If we are in the middle of April and people start to talk us up, that will do me nicely because it will mean we are coming into the final furlong with a chance.

"If we could somehow get our head in front that would be great."

With visits to Arsenal and Chelsea still ahead of them, Moyes concedes his side will have to do it the hard way.

However, games of such significance have not been in plentiful enough supply at Everton down the years. And Moyes is happy to take them on.

"High-pressure games are what we have been craving," he said. "Partly because we have not been good enough, or won the games that mattered, we have not had as many as we would like.

"I do accept it is much harder for us because we have got all those teams to play away from home, so of all those who have a chance of getting into Europe, we are certainly the underdogs."

Everton are sweating on the fitness of Kevin Mirallas as the Belgium international suffered a groin injury after netting a magnificent winner against Stoke last weekend.

Marouane Fellaini and Steven Pienaar are both missing as they complete two-match suspensions.