Chelsea to Make £40m Bid for Gareth Bale
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Chelsea are poised to make a £40million bid for Gareth Bale in the summer.
And the Stamford Bridge club believe their hopes of enticing the Welsh wonder away from White Hart Lane can be boosted by beating his current club on Saturday.
A defeat for Tottenham would be a devastating blow to their flickering chances of Champions League football next season.
Bale signed a four-year deal with Spurs last month worth £60,000 per week, and his family are understood to feel his development would be better served by extending his stay in N17.
But the 21-year-old, voted the PFA Player of the Year, has not hidden his desire to play in Europe’s elite competition next season after lighting up the Champions League this season.
Chelsea have three main target areas for the summer, with Ajax right-back Gregory van der Wiel the prime target for that berth and a big-name central midfielder also on the agenda.
The third is a flying winger who can replicate the attacking threat of Jose Mourinho’s title-winning side, who had Arjen Robben, Damien Duff and Joe Cole at their disposal. Bale is seen as the ideal answer.
Tottenham will be reluctant to sell at any price, but persuading Bale – and Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart – to stay will be much harder if they cannot offer Champions League football.
SOURCE: Daily Mirror
Harry Redknapp may indeed have his work cut out keeping all his big stars happy if indeed Tottenham fail to secure another top four finish, such is the speedy upturn in form shown by the North London club over the past two seasons. Man City’s late win over Blackburn last night left the White Hart Lane club four points from fourth spot with just five games to play.
Carlo Ancelotti and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich appear keen to bring in youthful signings this summer to help balance the ageing nature of the Stamford Bridge squad. Having signed Fernando Torres and David Luiz in January the West London club are also looking to flex their financial muscle over the likes of Man City.
The likes of Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda have all been strongly linked with exits from the club and Gareth Bale is just one of many young targets apparently on the Chelsea radar. Ancelotti may see Bale as the ideal man to play ahead of Ashley Cole on the left but may have their work cut out trying to complete such a signing.
Former Southampton man Bale appears happy to continue his career progression at Tottenham and has signed a new long term deal in recent weeks so perhaps such speculation will be more relevant in a year or two. Redknapp may have a tough time warding off interest in Rafael Van der Vaart, Luka Modric and Aaron Lennon who have been targeted by Man United and Liverpool.
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