Spurs ready to offer Bale £40m in desperate attempt to keep hold of Welsh wizard



Sportsmail last week launched a campaign to keep Gareth Bale in the Premier League for us all to enjoy

Tottenham are drawing up a 'double your money' £8million-a-year deal in a bid to keep Gareth Bale from the clutches of Europe's elite.



The 23-year-old forward has been outstanding during the club's charge towards Champions League qualification, scoring 20 goals in all competitions, and Spurs will make their offer of a five-year deal worth around £40m once they have secured a place in the top four of the Barclays Premier League.

Bale signed a four-year contract worth a basic £75,000 a week last season which ties him to the club until 2016, but his increasing influence has prompted Tottenham to reassess that.



Chairman Daniel Levy recognises the need to reward his prize asset, who has drawn comparisons with the world's best players Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, and will propose a groundbreaking offer for the club of around £150,000 a week.



Asset: Gareth Bale trained with Jan Vertonghen and Mousa Dembele on Wednesday ahead of the Inter Milan tie

Lethal: The Welshman will be offered £8m-a-year to stay in north London

A queue of clubs wanting the Welshman is already forming. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City head the list of those after him this summer and all would be willing to pay substantially greater wages.



But Levy values Bale at around £60million and will resist lesser offers. He sees Bale as pivotal to the club’s commercial growth, acknowledging that the player’s continuing development and rising profile will help attract lucrative sponsorships and kit deals.



Although Levy is reluctant to change a business strategy in which player wages do not exceed 70 per cent of Tottenham’s turnover, increased commercial revenue, plus Champions League funds, would help offset any extra money they give to their star man.

Tonight, Bale will renew his rivalry with Inter Milan in the Europa League. As a 21-year-old in 2010, he hit a hat-trick in a losing cause at San Siro in the Champions League group stage, before a stunning display against the Italians helped Spurs to a 3-1 victory at White Hart Lane.



He was at Old Trafford on Tuesday to watch idol and compatriot Ryan Giggs play for Manchester United against Real Madrid and sampling the atmosphere has whetted his appetite for a return to that stage.

Bale is encouraged by the fact that qualification for next season’s competition remains in Tottenham’s hands and that will play a significant part in persuading him where his future lies.



Crucial: Bale scored the opening goal in a 2-1 win over north London rivals Arsenal

Stunning: Bale struck an unstoppable long-range winner in injury time to beat West Ham at Upton Park

He is ambitious, but despite Real Madrid making him their No 1 target, it is not a foregone conclusion that he will leave.

A graduate of Whitchurch High School in Cardiff, Bale is close to his family and travels to Wales regularly to see them. Girlfriend Emma Rhys-Jones had their first child last October and he is settled at Spurs.



Towards the end of the season he will hold further talks with his advisers, who will outline the offers from across Europe, but Levy remains confident the improved offer can persuade him to stay.



