Barcelona Make Tottenham's Gareth Bale Top Transfer Priority

Barcelona's summer transfer priority will be to secure the signature of Tottenham Hotspur's star player Gareth Bale, according to The Telegraph. The Spanish giants sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta and the club's technical department have earmarked 22-year-old Bale as the best in Europe in his position and consider the Welshman as a long term replacement for left-back Eric Abidal, who went under the knife last week for a live transplant. Barca's chief scout Albert Valentin watched Bale closely in Tottenham's 3-1 win at Fulham last November, a game where Bale setup Aaron Lennon for Spurs' second goal and have been closely monitoring him ever since. In truth, Bale thrust himself into the European spotlight last season when he single-handily tore Inter Milan apart in the Champions League when he scored an incredible hat-trick and was later named the PFA Player of the Year last season. Securing a potential Bale switch to the Nou Camp won't be easy as Spurs, who held firm when Chelsea offered in the region of £25-30 million for Luka Modric last summer that Tottenham shunned, will likely want a record fee for their prized asset whose best years are still ahead of him. Bale has three years to run on his contract at White Hart Lane, so there is no immediate pressure for Spurs to sell however the uncertainty over Harry Redknapp's future and the possibility that they might collapse out of the Champions League places, may have an impact. Barcelona chairman Sandro Rosell, who does have money to spend, was determined to sign Brazilian sensation Neymar but after he renewed his contract in November which reportedly rose his buy-out clause to £37 million, the Catalans interest stated to waiver until after the 2014 World Cup. Bale therefore has become the main priority as Barca look to strengthen their defence. Meanwhile Barcelona are also desperately trying to tie up manager Pep Guardiola to a contract extension, whose deal at the European Champions expires in the summer. Guardiola, who hasn't looked like the most happy manager in the world this season, seems keen to keep his options open and he has become isolated from the Barca board. This strained relationship is overshadowing Barca's plans for their summer spending spree and could scupper a deal for Bale if it drags on. Guardiola is said to have final say on who is brought in to his squad in the summer and its unknown if he agrees to strengthen the defence or whether he wants another impact signing such as Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez last year, who cost £50 million in total.