adminLONDON. — Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy was locked in negotiations on Wednesday night to finalise Gareth Bale’s world record £94million transfer to Real Madrid. Levy spent the day haggling over the sale of the Wales star, making sure his club received as much money as possible for their 24-year-old talisman. Madrid chiefs have grown frustrated at Levy’s hard-ball approach, and his tough stance was maintained during another day of negotiations.
The Spanish giants are desperate to sign Bale in time for him to make his debut in the lunchtime clash with Athletic Bilbao on Sunday week in order to maximise the global television audience. Tottenham technical director Franco Baldini, meanwhile, is in Madrid for talks over the sale of Bale.
He is also in the country to meet the agent of Erik Lamela, who is expected to complete a £30m move to White Hart Lane from Roma. Levy is adamant Fabio Coentrao’s pending switch to White Hart Lane should remain separate from Bale’s transfer, while Real want to use the left back as a make-weight in the deal.
Speaking in Georgia ahead of yesterday’s Europa League qualifier against Dinamo Tbilisi, Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas insisted a deal for Bale was not complete.
But Real chiefs are confident the transfer, which will eclipse Madrid’s £80m world record capture of Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United, will go through before the September 2 deadline. All the indications point to the forward’s imminent exit. Having already spent close to £60m on Roberto Soldado, Paulinho, Nacer Chadli and Etienne Capoue, Levy, director of football Franco Baldini and Villas-Boas continue to strengthen Spurs’ squad.
Anzhi Makhachkala forward Willian is almost certain to join in a £30m deal, and the club are in advanced talks with Lamela.
Given Uefa’s Financial Fair Play rules, spending what could be around £120m, without selling prized asset Bale, is highly unlikely. When asked directly whether the deal to take Bale to Madrid was complete, Villas-Boas replied: “I can’t tell you anything about that. That is not true.”
But when pressed, the Tottenham manager”s stance appeared to soften. “Ideally we want to keep everyone to make us stronger — that is the objective of the club. But we are dragging ourselves into the last weeks of transfer activity and it can become very, very frantic. We will continue to do some activity in the market, both ways.”
Losing Bale would be a bitter blow to Spurs” campaign but after their mega-spending spree, Villas-Boas insists his side — even without the Welsh flyer — will be stronger than last season. The ex-Porto coach added: “On the players that we have signed, it shows we have tremendous ambition.” — Mailonline.
Online Reporter