Ace set to stay at Spurs

Posted Thursday, July 04, 2013 by The Sun

GARETH BALE looks set to stay at Spurs for the coming season — after Real Madrid conceded defeat in the battle to sign him.

Tottenham’s Welsh wizard was a £80million target for the Spanish giants.

But Bernabeu bosses announced last night that Tottenham were unwilling to let them buy the star this summer.

However, they are confident Bale will move “into the big time” in 12 months.

But for now it seems as if Bale, 23, will remain at White Hart Lane this term.

That is great news for Tottenham, who feared they might lose their most prized asset.

Real were confident they could land him after the north Londoners finished fifth in the Prem and failed to qualify for the Champions League.

And they also revealed they had a “special relationship” with Spurs following the capture of Luka Modric last season.

But Spanish newspaper Marca — said to be Real’s mouthpiece — reported yesterday: “Real Madrid have decided to put the Gareth Bale signing on hold.

“After receiving yet another ‘no’ from Tottenham, Florentino Perez and his team have decided to call it a day and now see the signing of Bale this summer as impossible.

“Daniel Levy, the English club’s president, is not open to negotiation, and faced with such inflexibility, reaching any sort of agreement is not viable.”

Barcelona, Manchester United and Manchester City have also been monitoring Bale’s situation with interest.

But now the front-runners from Madrid have been turned down, it seems highly unlikely the Wales playmaker will move elsewhere.

Tottenham have insisted all along that Bale would not be leaving this summer.

And the player is said to be extremely happy to remain with the club.

The Marca article added: “Bale is content to stay for another year in England, despite the fact that his club will not be taking part in the Champions League. He says that he’s very thankful to Tottenham and that he’s happy where he is.

“He has no release clause, will not be making a transfer request and considers that, being only 23, he has time enough to make the jump into the big time.

“And when that happens, he wants it to be with Los Blancos.”

Bale has three years left on his contract and has been offered an improved deal worth £130,000 a week.

He joined from Southampton in 2007 in a deal that eventually cost £7m.

After a slow start he has become one of Europe’s hottest prospects and last season was double Footballer of the Year.

Bale has also just become a dad and Spurs legend Glenn Hoddle last week urged him to stay in England.