Tottenham's Gareth Bale is £80m target for Manchester United AND Manchester City AND Chelsea
Tottenham's Gareth Bale is £80m target for Manchester United AND Manchester City AND Chelsea
Prem trio are all believed to have made it clear they are
willing to spend that much on star also linked with Real Madrid and PSG
Prince of Wales: Megaclubs are lining up to buy Spurs' Gareth Bale
Ian Walton
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is fighting a losing battle in his attempts to keep Gareth Bale.
Real
Madrid have lined up a full-scale assault to sign Bale this summer and
will make a £60million bid - but the Spanish giants will have to do
better than that if they want to tempt Levy to sell.
That's
because, we understand, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and
Paris Saint-Germain have all made it clear they are prepared to pay £80m
for the Welshman.
Spurs would be reluctant to sell to a Premier
League rival, but all five clubs would move in with concrete bids given
the slightest encouragement - although they all might have to wait until
next summer to do business.
Levy is standing firm and will battle to keep his star even after the 24-year-old's agent, Jonathan Barnett, moved the saga up a gear by telling a Spanish TV show that he and Bale were "honoured" by Real's interest.
It
is still more likely that Bale will leave Spurs next summer than in the
current close-season but intriguingly - even though there have been
preliminary talks - it now seems impossible to imagine the Welsh flier
will sign a new contract.
Tottenham know that even their proposed £170,000-a-week would not match what Bale can earn elsewhere.
Even though he has three years left on his present deal, the exit strategy has begun.
Real would be prepared to offer players-plus-cash to lure Bale this summer, and Argentinian striker Gonzalo Higuain is one man they would be willing to put into any deal.
The Bernabeu club are clearly favourites as it stands, with
football legend Zinedine Zidane, who works for his old team as an
ambassador, rolling out the red carpet last week and insisting Bale should move to Real.
The
soundbites have clearly made an impression as Barnett, talking on Marca
TV, admitted that Bale is flattered, and is worth more than Barcelona's
£50m new signing Neymar but is in no rush to move.
Barnett
said: "If Florentino (Perez, the Real president) is interested in
Gareth Bale, it would be an honour and we'd listen. But his contract is
with Tottenham. We aren't free to talk with anybody at the moment,
that's the point we're at.
"I can understand a lot of teams are
interested in him. He's a great player but he has a contract with
Tottenham. I don't know if there has been a bid [from Real]. What I do
know is that the player has three years left on his contract.
"Bale is a better player than Neymar and he's demonstrated it in one of the best leagues in the world.
"I
would imagine clubs want him not just because they missed out on
Neymar, but because of how good he is. He should be the first option,
we'll see - Bale is worth more than Neymar.
"Bale is very relaxed
(about the situation) - he's enjoying a deserved holiday. He only wants
to be happy and enjoy his football."
Who is better? Bale...
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