According to Don Balon, Tottenham Hotspur have been ‘given the go-ahead’ to agree a deal with Real Madrid for Gareth Bale this summer. The £434.6m forward is expecting to leave as president Florentino Perez has been shopping for his replacement – Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah or Chelsea’s Eden Hazard.
Bale joined Real from Tottenham in 2013 and has contributed 140 goals in 183 games in all competitions. The 28-year-old has won three Champions Leagues, one La Liga title and one Copa Del Rey. His injury problems have cut down his playing time, however, with the Welsh international missing 63 of Real’s last 185 league games.
Tottenham have an enviable attack in the Premier League, with Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min scoring 48 league goals between them this season, but Bale would be a world-class acquisition. He scored and created 114 goals in 203 for Spurs after his 2007 move from Southampton, but his asking price and wage demands might prove a stumbling block in negotiations.
Real spent £85m to sign Bale five years ago and gave the forward a contract worth £18m-a-year. Given Hugo Lloris is Tottenham’s highest-earner on £120k-per-week, it’s hard to see chairman Daniel Levy sanction the return of Bale on a deal three times that figure.
Stats from Transfermarkt.
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