Real Madrid to step up pursuit of PFA Player of the Year contender

In an attempt to deter various clubs’ attentions away from Gareth Bale, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has slapped a £100m price tag on the PFA Player of the Year nominee.

And whilst attributing such a hefty asking price to the Welsh international may have fended off interest from a host of European giants, Real Madrid remain in the hunt for the electric winger.

Bale, 23, has enjoyed a superlative campaign at White Hart Lane, with 18 goals in 28 league appearances contributing to his status as a seeming shoo-in for a second PFA Player of the Year accolade in three years.

With 23 strikes in all competitions this term too, the wide-man’s importance to Tottenham has become all too obvious, prompting Real to install him as their chief summer transfer target.

Despite the immense likelihood that Jose Mourinho will leave Santiago Bernabeu at the end of the season, Madrid president Florentino Perez will ensure the La Liga giants make a serious tilt at securing Bale’s signature.

But with Perez insisting he will not pay more than £45m cash up-front for the ex-Southampton trainee, Los Blancos could have their work cut out in concluding a deal with Spurs.

And considering that, Real may be forced to explore the possibility of a part-exchange deal in order to tempt Tottenham chairman Levy, a notoriously tough negotiator, to part with his prize asset.

It is thought that Perez could use one of Argentinian pair Gonzalo Higuain or Angel Di Maria as bait, whilst Jose Callejon has also been mentioned, with the latter duo representing more like-for-like replacements for Bale.

As Bale would currently seem almost peerless as a winger though, Spurs could instead prefer to bolster their striking ranks, especially considering Andre Villas-Boas has long wished to strengthen his options in this area of the pitch.

25-year-old Higuain would be a sure-fire starter at White Hart Lane, and perhaps keen to gain more guaranteed first-team football, could be the next player Tottenham build their side around if Bale does exit this summer.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.