• Centre-forward hopes to strike up partnership with winger • 'I want him to stay,' says £26m new boy Roberto Soldado

Roberto Soldado has urged Gareth Bale to remain at Tottenham Hotspur after he agreed a £26m move from Valencia that has seen the London club break their transfer record for the second time this summer and provided the manager, André Villas-Boas, with the centre-forward that he has craved.

Bale's future continues to dominate the agenda, as Real Madrid press to sign him for a world record €100m (£86m) and the Tottenham chairman, Daniel Levy, seeks to make them pay an even heavier price. He has asked for Real's 20-year-old striker Alvaro Morata to be included in the deal but the notion has been dismissed at the Bernabéu, not least because he is the young player that the club rate most highly.

Real have suggested the left-back Fabio Coentrão as a possible make-weight and he was withdrawn from their pre-season tour game against Los Angeles Galaxy in Phoenix on Thursday because of a muscle injury. Villas-Boas is an admirer of Coentrão, his fellow Portuguese.

Bale did not train again with the Tottenham first-team squad on Thursday morning because, officially, he has struggled with a minor muscle problem for the past two weeks. He will not feature in Saturday's friendly against Monaco in the south of France, for which Tottenham will depart on Friday afternoon. Bale is desperate for Levy to find a solution that allows him to join Real.

The Soldado transfer, however, represented eye-catching business for Tottenham and the 28-year-old Spain international also gave his view on the Bale saga. "Bale is a great footballer and you can see the effort Tottenham are making to prevent him from leaving," Soldado said. "Of course, I want him to stay."

Tottenham have made decisive moves regarding their incoming players. Soldado has been a long-standing target for Villas-Boas and the manager encouraged Levy to meet the €30m buyout clause in the player's contract. An issue over the payments to Soldado's agents has been resolved.

Soldado, capped 11 times by Spain, scored 30 goals in 46 appearances for Valencia last season and his arrival has delighted Villas-Boas, who had only Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor as recognised centre-forwards last season. Villas-Boas has chased a clutch of players to fill the position, including Christian Benteke of Aston Villa, Internacionale's Leandro Damião and David Villa, who has joined Atlético Madrid from Barcelona but Soldado has ended the search.

Tottenham first broke their transfer record last month with the £17m signing of the midfielder Paulinho from Corinthians; they have also taken the winger Nacer Chadli from FC Twente for £7m and they remain active on the market, with Steaua Bucharest's £6m-rated centre-half Vlad Chiriches in their sights.

Villas-Boas has sanctioned the £9m sale of Steven Caulker to Cardiff City; he has released William Gallas and he has Younès Kaboul and Jan Vertonghen fighting injuries, and so centre-half has become a priority area.