The price of class... Spurs ready to cull wage bill to save for Bale's huge new deal



Tottenham will embark on a summer wage cull to help pay for Gareth Bale's bumper new contract after Real Madrid upped the ante in their quest to land the forward.

Just 24 hours after Bale's agent Jonathan Barnett rocked the North London club by admitting the forward is open to moving to the Bernabeu, the Spanish club's president Florentino Perez further antagonised the situation by saying the Spurs winger is 'born' to play for Real.

The 66-year-old's comments will only serve to strengthen Tottenham's fear that they will lose another one of their prized assets to the Spanish giants after Luka Modric moved their last season.

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Top target: Real Madrid have long-standing interest in Gareth Bale

Waiting for the call: Bale's agent Jonathan Barnett

Spurs will look to offer Bale a new and improved contract in an attempt to keep him from Real's clutches.

Bale still has three-years to run on his existing £110,000-per-week deal, but as Sportsmail revealed earlier this month the Wales international wants a deal closer to £200,000-per-week to stay.

Tottenham chiefs fear the the 23-year-old's wage demands are likely to be a step too far for the club's limited finances.

But they hope attempts to streamline their squad this summer will help finance a contract to ensure Bale stays at the club for next season at least.

Mega deal: Real Madrid will have to pay around £65m to lure Bale away from White Hart Lane

David Bentley will leave the club when his contract expires later this summer, saving the club £50,000-per-week.

Likewise, William Gallas, who earns around £60,000-per-week, is also set to leave the club when his contract expires next month.

Tottenham will also listen to offers for Emmanuel Adebayor, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Jake Livermore, Tom Huddlestone and Heurelho Gomes this summer.

If the club were to successfully offload all the aforementioned players, it would save Spurs around £17million in wages a year.

Offering Bale a £200,000-per-week deal would cost Spurs £10.4million per season.

Save: Spurs will look to offload the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor (above) and Tom Huddlestone (below)

There was, however, some good news for Spurs in their fight to keep Bale after Perez ruled out the chance of Cristiano Ronaldo leaving Real this summer.

The Portugal superstar's departure would only intensify the La Liga club's quest to sign the Wales international.