Bale's move delayed

The timetable has been slowed by Spurs’ failure to sign Willian, whose
move to White Hart Lane was hijacked by Chelsea in a £30 million deal.
Spurs would like to sign Juan Mata — who was left out of Chelsea’s
starting XI for last night’s league match away to Manchester United — but
know that a bid would be rebuffed.
Spurs have agreed a payment schedule with Real, with the Spanish giants
having agreed to covering the fee in three bullet payments. If they were
to renege on the agreement the fee would rise substantially, although if
they were to pay up early they would receive a discount.
Bale is due back in London today having spent the Bank Holiday weekend
in Malaga ahead of his move and Spurs have taken a dim view of Real
erecting scaffolding at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, in preparation for
an unveiling, and also selling Bale No11 shirts.
Nevertheless the deal is expected finally to go ahead and Tottenham’s
claim on Monday that at least one more bid had been received for the
Wales international has been greeted with scepticism.
Manchester United manager David Moyes said on Monday night that he
had not bid for Bale, but added: “I said at the start, when I got the job,
that Manchester United would always be interested in the best players.
"We are always looking to try to improve the team, the owners have
given me the opportunity to bring in whoever I want, so we continue to
look at those players. It has been tough in this window, but we are
always looking at the best players.”
Paris St-Germain did not respond to requests for comment on whether
they had bid, while Manchester City also have the clout to meet the
asking price but insisted they had made no such move. Bale has also set
his heart on a move to Real and Levy does not want to sell to another
Premier League club.
Spurs are, however, determined to sign a high-profile replacement for
Bale before releasing the player, with talks ongoing to secure the Roma
winger Erik Lamela in a deal worth up to £30million.
The 21-year-old was expected to fly to London on Tuesday to finalise a
five-year contract, with Tottenham paying an initial £25.8 million plus a
potential £4.2million in add-ons.
Lamela was an unused substitute in Roma’s 2-0 victory over Livorno at
the weekend, fuelling speculation his move to Spurs was imminent.
Spurs would want another player in addition to the Argentina
international and have discussed a move for Brazilian striker Hulk, who
plays for Zenit St Petersburg.
Bale is expected to agree a six-year deal at Real worth around £8.5 
million a season and Spurs have played hardball in securing bank
guarantees from Real, having earlier been doubtful of the funding of the
deal.
Real played away to Granada on Monday night and are at home to
Athletic Bilbao on Sunday in what had been hoped would be Bale’s debut
appearance. That might now be delayed, depending on who Spurs sign.
Spurs have also reached agreement to acquire central defender Vlad
Chiriches from Steaua Bucharest for around £8 million.
Meanwhile, Roberto Soldado, Tottenham Hotspur’s £26million record
signing, has predicted that Andre Villas-Boas’s side will be “strong and
competitive” this season even without Bale and promised that there was
much more to come from the new-look team.
The club have recorded three straight wins while Bale has been pushing
for his move, and Soldado has already put himself forward as the new
hero of the Spurs fans by scoring four goals, including match-winners
against both Crystal Palace and Swansea.
Ahead of Sunday’s game against Arsenal, he said: “The first few games I
think are the hardest of the season and we have played well, but we can
still improve a lot.
"I think this is quite a strong squad and a competitive team. It’s the most
beautiful derby, the one with the biggest rivalry for Tottenham and I
can’t wait to play in this environment.”