Gareth Bale will not head to Real Madrid this summer. According to Tottenham Hotspurs coach Andre Villas-Boas, the rising Welshman will remain with his current side in London.
"We have the pledge of the chairman that Bale is not going to leave the club," Villas-Boas stated in an interview with Spanish newspaper Marca.
The report comes a few days after UK publication The Mirror claimed that Real Madrid had already saved a jersey number for Bale. "Real Madrid have stepped up their campaign to land £85million-rated Gareth Bale - by reserving their no.11 shirt for him. In tactics similar to those that saw them land another Tottenham star, Luka Modric, last summer, the Spanish giants are already describing Bale as 'The Eleventh Galactico,'" writes the publication. Bale currently wears the number 11 for Tottenham Hotspur.
Madrid has been open about its desire to land the 23-year old. Madrid Sporting Director Zinedane Zidane has repeated stated that he wants the Premier league midfielder to play alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and other Madrid stars.
"The talk about Gareth Bale is not a surprise," said Zidane. "'It is impossible to have the season he just had and not be linked with the biggest clubs in Europe. If any club is going to tempt Spurs, then it will take big money - maybe even record-breaking money."
He added, "There are four or five clubs at the moment who have the finances not to be put off by a record-breaking fee like that."
Barcelona has remained quiet on its rivals' interest in Bale, but Blaugrana midfielder Cesc Fabregas recently called the transfer "foolish."
"For me, it seems foolish to pay 100 million euros for Gareth Bale," said Fabregas. "I don't know how any club could spend that amount of money in these circumstances."
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