Tottenham boss Villas-Boas targets four new signings with Bale cash

The Spurs manager is to ask Daniel Levy for a
left-back, centre-back, winger and a striker
with any budget accrued from selling the
Welshman to Real Madrid this summer
EXCLUSIVE
By Duncan Castles
Tottenham plan to use a significant percentage
of the world record transfer fee offered by
Real Madrid for Gareth Bale to recruit four
new players, Goal understands.
Andre Villas-Boas is to ask for a left-back,
centre-back, winger and a striker - all in
addition to a deal agreed for Spain
international Roberto Soldado.
The Premier League club values Bale at €115
million, a price Madrid have told Tottenham
chairman Daniel Levy they are prepared to
meet during recent discussions over a transfer.
With Bale's team of advisers intent on moving
the 24-year-old to the Santiago Bernabeu as
soon as possible, negotiations are now centred
on how the deal transfer will be structured.
Levy's preference has been for a one-off cash
payment, a condition which would be
extremely difficult for Madrid to finance at
present. An alternative is for a proportion of
the headline €115m figure to be made up of
players.
Fabio Coentrao, who is unhappy at the
Bernabeu and has sought a move back to
Benfica, and Angel Di Maria, whose place in
Madrid's attack is threatened by Bale's planned
acquisition, have been floated as potential
makeweights.
Both, however, carry high salary packages and
valuations at Madrid. Spain Under-21 striker
Alvaro Morata is a further option, though
Florentino Perez is under political pressure not
to move on one of their squad's few
homegrown players.
While Villas-Boas went into a critical transfer
window expecting to retain Bale following
direct conversations with the Wales
international and a commitment from Levy
that the player would not be sold, the
Tottenham manager is understood to have
accepted that Madrid's offer to meet the
unprecedented €115m asking price is
impossible to refuse.
Tottenham have already broken their own
transfer record twice this summer, first
committing close to £17m to the transfer of
Brazil midfielder Paulinho from Corinthians,
and then agreeing to pay Valencia €30m
(£26m) for Soldado, their prolific centre
forward.
Both players were requested by Villas-Boas,
who also successfully pushed for the
recruitment of Belgium forward Nacer Chadli.
The club also offered €18m for Bernard earlier
in the window, but have since dropped their
interest in the diminutive Brazil attacker.
Atletico Mineiro are now expected to sell the
20-year-old to Villas-Boas' former employers,
Porto, though Shakhtar Donetsk have also
made a move.