City have to fork record £150m for Bale

Tottenham Hotspurs have laid down a ludicrous price-tag of £150 million ($222 million) on winger Gareth Bale who is a prime target of Manchester City, according to reports in the British press.

The cash-rich Abu Dhabi are planning a raid for the Wales winger this summer and are weighing up a bid for the gifted 22-year-old who was on the scoresheet during Spurs' 3-2 defeat at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

City have made tentative enquiries into what it will take Spurs to part with their star midfielder.

But the north Londoners are hoping they can repeat the feat of last year - when they resisted numerous offers from Chelsea for Croatian midfielder Luka Modric – and persuade Bale to stay.

Chairman Daniel Levy is adamant that his best players will not be sold and has set the astronomical valuation to ward off potential bidders.

The current world transfer record stands at £80 million that Real Madrid paid for Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United and any buyer of Bale would have to nearly double that for the Spurs man.

Rumours surfaced that Bale had a £50 million buyout clause in his contract and City were ready to offer that to bring the Welsh international to Manchester.

Bale's representatives, the Stellar Group, have recently confirmed there is no buyout clause and Spurs can value the player at whatever price they want.

Spurs have the Welshman under contract until 2015 and Bale has insisted that he is happy at White Hart Lane, but there is no doubt he could be lured by a massive offer.

Reports have also emerged over a move for Luka Modric to Manchester United and if the Croatian decides to leave White Hart Lane, Bale may follow suit.

Three bids for Modric were turned down in the summer, all from Chelsea, and the reigning Premier League champions are looking to negotiate with Levy over a move.

And City chiefs are now kicking themselves for not signing Bale in 2009 when Tottenham offered him to the club for a bargain £4m.

Meanwhile, Bale insists Tottenham did not deserve to lose to Manchester City after Mario Balotelli's last-gasp penalty condemned them to defeat on Sunday.
 
Spurs fought back from 2-0 down at Ethiad Stadium, with Jermain Defoe grabbing their first goal before Bale curled home a stunning strike from 25 yards.
 
But Ledley King brought down Balotelli in stoppage time and the Italian made no mistake slotting home from the spot.
 
The loss leaves Spurs eight points behind Premier League leaders City to put a severe dent in their title hopes and Bale admits his side were stung by the result.
 
"Everyone's devastated," said Bale on Spurs' official website.
 
"We can take heart from the performance, but we all feel sick that we've lost the game that way.
 
"I don't think we deserved to lose the game.
 
"We showed our character to come from 2-0 down and I thought we should have won the game. We can't quite believe it."
 
Tottenham came close to finding the winner when Bale crossed in for Defoe in front of an empty net, but the striker could not quite reach the ball and it went agonisingly wide.
 
"I was waiting for the ball to hit the back of the net," added the Welsh winger.
 
"For them to then go up the other end, get a penalty and win the game was a massive blow.
 
"That's football. It bites back when you think you are on top. I thought we were fantastic and we'll pick ourselves up."
 

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