Tottenham may be offered Barcelona youngsters in Bale swoop
Published:Gareth Bale’s sparkling Champions League displays of last season led to him widely being renowned as one of the hottest properties in world football.
It appears the Welshman’s performances gained recognition from even the world’s greatest clubs, as Pep Guardiola now looks desperate to bring the pacey winger to Barcelona.
A fee in the region of £50m would be required to make Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy even think about doing business, and in order to be in a position to offer those kinds of funds, Barca would need to allow some outgoings from the Nou Camp.
Potential departures come in the form of Cristian Tello, Isaac Cuenca and Jonathan Dos Santos, with the Catalan giants keen to insert buy-back clauses into any potential deals for the raw youngsters in a similar way they did with Oriol Romeu’s switch to Chelsea.
Indeed, it was the buy-back deal for Romeu that allowed the European champions to raise enough cash to sign Cesc Fabregas last summer, and with a more extortionate fee a necessity to be given permission to speak with Bale, Barca are keen to push through similar deals for other young talents.
Although Manchester United and Chelsea are believed to have declared an interest in 20-year-old forwards Tello and Cuenca, it is thought that Guardiola would instead allow Tottenham first option on the pair, should they be persuaded to negotiate a deal for Bale.
Despite Eric Abidal agreeing an extension to his Nou Camp contract, Guardiola is believed to have made a left-sided player one of his top priorities this summer, and Bale’s ability to perform in both attacking and defensive roles down the left flank seem to have attracted the World Manager of the Year to his talents.
Santos forward Neymar is a possible incoming transfer for the Spanish club, and he is very capable of performing as a left winger, though it is thought that Bale’s versatility makes him Barca’s top target this summer.
