Soldado hoping Bale stays as Tottenham spending hits £50m
RECORD Tottenham signing Roberto Soldado has urged the club to keep Real Madrid target Gareth Bale next season.
Spurs yesterday confirmed they had agreed a club record £26m fee with Valencia to sign the 28-year-old striker, subject to a medical.
Soldado is set to become manager Andre Villas-Boas’s third summer signing after the arrival of midfielders Paulinho and Nacer Chadli, taking their aggregate spend to £50m.
And he hopes Bale, subject of a world record £86m bid from Real, will remain at White Hart Lane next term.
“He’s a great player and that’s why Tottenham are making it so difficult for him to leave,” said Soldado. “Of course I hope that he stays with Spurs.”
Spurs are insistent they do not wish to sell Bale, who won both the PFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards last term.
But Real boss Carlo Ancelotti revealed yesterday his club are still plotting to sign the 24-year-old, however former Spurs midfielder Luka Modric would not return to north London as part of any potential deal.
“The club is talking right now to find a solution to the case of Bale, but there is no news in this regard,” said the former Chelsea manager.
“It’s hard to talk about Bale as a player of Madrid, let’s see what happens. We have not discussed anything about outputs, so it is not true about Modric. He is a player very important to us.”
SOLD ON SOLDADO
Honours
■ European Under-19 Championship winner with Spain (2004)
■ Primera Division champion with Real Madrid (2004)
Club record
■ Games 356, goals 183
International record
■ Games 11, goals six