Soldado begs Bale to reject Real Madrid

LONDON - Roberto Soldado would love nothing more than to forge a strike partnership with Gareth Bale at Tottenham next season, as he travelled to London to complete his move from Valencia.

Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas has been keen to bring in some attacking reinforcements and has long been an admirer of 28-year-old Soldado, a prolific goalscorer in the Primera Division.

The deal, though, is likely to have cost the north London club around £26 million (S$50 million) - the buy-out clause which last week Valencia president Amadeo Salvo warned would have to be met to prise the striker away. If so, it would see Tottenham break the club transfer record set when they signed Paulinho for £17 million from Corinthians earlier in the summer, the Daily Telegraph reported.

However, were Bale to be sold to Real Madrid - who are ready to pay a world-record £85 million for the Wales international - then that outlay on new players would be offset entirely, opening up the possibility of a move for Roma’s Argentina forward Erik Lamela.

Soldado, though, would relish the chance to link up with Bale, whose 21 Premier League goals earned him the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year and Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year accolades, but could not secure a top-four finish.

Soldado said: “Bale is a great footballer and you can see the effort Tottenham are making to prevent him from leaving. Of course I want him to stay.”

However, former Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp believes Gareth Bale will leave White Hart Lane for Real, and will flourish at the Bernabeu.

Redknapp rates the Welshman as the third best player on the planet behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

“He is behind Messi and Ronaldo in terms of being the best player in the world,” Redknapp said.

“He is at a good club but the opportunity to play for Real Madrid does not come along too often. He has probably dreamt about that since he was a little boy.

“It seems they have offered fantastic money so it could happen, but I don’t know. I wouldn’t be sure. If he goes there, he will be a great success there. I am sure of that.” AGENCIES