Tottenham to splash Bale cash

Tottenham are poised to eclipse Manchester City as the summer's big spenders as Gareth Bale finally nears the exit.

Bale is on the verge of completing his protracted move to Real Madrid for a world-record £86m fee but Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas is closing in on three transfer targets to collectively strengthen his squad.
Deals are in place for Roma forward Erik Lamela and Steaua Bucharest centre-back Vlad Chiriches, who have both arrived in London ahead of medicals, while chairman Daniel Levy is in talks with Ajax over a £9m move for Christian Eriksen.
Lamela's arrival, for a fee rising to £30m, would see Tottenham break their transfer record for a third time this summer following the £17m and £26m outlays for Paulinho and Roberto Soldado, respectively.

But their overall spend during this window would surpass £100m, beating the figure of around £90m that Manuel Pellegrini has forked out at Manchester City.

Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas has confirmed Gareth Bale's move to Real Madrid could happen very very soon.

There could be an acrimonious end to the Bale saga after Villas-Boas criticised the winger's conduct with his next move still to be sealed.

"He is involved in a big transfer to Real Madrid and, if it happens, we wish him all the best, but the fact that he hasn't turned up is not the correct behaviour," Villas-Boas said after Bale missed a second day of training.
"I gave the player the weekend off. Monday was a day off for the squad. It is up to the club now to decide if it's a fineable offence. I've given my opinion on it, it's up to them to decide whether they act on it or not."
One player out of Spurs' reach is Chelsea's Juan Mata with Villas-Boas admitting he's a fan of the midfielder.
But the Portuguese coach believes Chelsea would be unwilling to strengthen the squad of a fellow top-four contender - meaning Spurs have turned their attention to Lamela and Eriksen.
On Mata, Villas-Boas said: "Mata is a great player - player of the season last season, a very important player for Chelsea.
"But Chelsea wouldn't sell to Tottenham in any way, as they think we are title contenders.
"They're just not going to strengthen another team that, in their opinion, are rivals for the title."