Spurs Transfer News: Real Madrid Prepared To Pay £85 Million For Gareth Bale

Zinedine Zidane. The Welshman has been heavily linked with a summer move to the Spanish capital and Real are reportedly lining up an eye-watering £85 million bid for the PFA Player of the Year. That would dwarf the current world transfer record - the £80 million Real paid Manchester United for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009. But Zidane, who ended his professional playing career at the Bernabeu, where he made over 150 appearances, said that will not faze the La Liga giants, who are determined to land their man. He said:

"The talk about Gareth Bale is not a surprise. It is impossible to have the season he just had and not be linked with the biggest clubs in Europe. "If any club is going to tempt Spurs, then it will take big money €“ maybe even record-breaking money. "There are four or five clubs at the moment who have the finances not to be put off by a record-breaking fee like that."

Tottenham, who have thus far stood firm on their stance that Bale will not be sold to any club this summer, could find such a behemoth offer too tempting to turn down. Real chief Florentino Perez has pinpointed Bale as his prime target this summer, and he usually gets his way. Bale's potential arrival at the Bernabeu could see him come in as a direct replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been linked with a switch back to Manchester United. Bale was the Premier League's third top scorer last season with 21 goals, falling just behind Luis Suarez and Robin van Persie.