KEEP BALE

Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe has said that the club should do everything that they can in order to keep winger Gareth Bale at the club. The 23-year-old Welshman has been linked with some of the biggest clubs in the world like Real Madrid, who are prepared to pay in excess of £ 50 million for the player.

Bale managed to win both PFA awards on offer last season, thus becoming the first player since Cristiano Ronaldo to do so. He is also amongst the elite players to have achieved this feat in the same season. Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo are the other players.

Bale has reiterated his desire to play in the Champions League, but there are huge fears that he may be prepared to look elsewhere after Tottenham yet again failed to qualify for this competition. However, they came extremely close only because of the brilliance of Bale.

Defoe, who was one of the top scorers for the club last season, has spoken about the importance of Bale to the club. Tottenham have been extremely close to making it into the group stages of the Champions league in the last two seasons. Defoe is confident that they will be able to finally do it this season, but he sees the presence of Bale as an important factor.

"It's important to keep your best players and it doesn't make any sense selling your best players. On a personal note, it's difficult to say much about it. Gaz had a fantastic year last year and the Premier League is one of the best leagues in the world. What he did last year was outstanding and if you do that you're going to have other clubs after you. I hope by doing that we can make that extra jump and get into the Champions League," said Defoe.