Negotiations for Gareth Bale appear to be gridlocked and the soap-opera surrounding his move looks unlikely to be resolved until next week. Real Madrid has tried to include Fabio Coentrao in a deal for the Welshman, as Villas-Boas is a fan, but Tottenham wants any deal for the Portuguese full-back to be kept completely separate from the Welshman’s departure.

The reason that Levy wants to keep the deals for Coentrao and Bale separate is none other than to sign off on the highest possible transfer fee for the Welsh midfielder. Real wants to seal a deal for €86m plus Fabio Coentrao, but Tottenham still values Bale at no less than €109m, with no player included in the deal.

As things stand, Bale’s move to Real Madrid has stalled, although the Spanish club remains convinced that Levy will end up accepting the offer and that the Welshman will join Real Madrid on a five-year deal.

The atmosphere at the Bernabéu is the same as that in the Tottenham dressing room, where Villas-Boas is training his squad and does not expect Bale to be part of his future plans. Despite telling the press that "Bale is Tottenham’s future" – as he did last week -, the truth of the matter is that the Portuguese knows that the midfielder’s move to Real Madrid is a case of when rather than if.