Reports in pro-Madrid paper Marca today claimed that Bale told Spurs chief Daniel Levy that he should be allowed to quit White Hart Lane after the club failed to qualify for this season’s Champions League.
Asked about the speculation and Real Madrid’s conduct following Tottenham’s 6-0 Asia Trophy win over South China in Hong Kong today, Villas-Boas maintained his silence over the whole affair.
Speculation building: Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas has refused to comment on whether Gareth Bale will stay
Lips sealed: Villas Boas is staying silent on Bale's futureHe said: ‘I don’t want to comment on anything like that. I cannot speak about anything.’
Villas-Boas would at least confirm that Bale is expected to return to full training on Wednesday after recovering from a muscle strain in his right buttock, although it remains to be seen if he will feature in Tottenham’s game in Monaco next Saturday.
‘He is going to be fit to join the team for training on Wednesday,’ added the Spurs boss. ‘He hasn’t done any training with the team yet but he was involved in some pre-season friendlies before that.
‘He’s been almost at maximum training and we’re pretty confident that he’ll join us for the sessions and be involved.’
Close relationship: Villas-Boas and Bale have worked well as a teamIn Bale’s absence, Jermain Defoe scored a hat-trick to give Tottenham a comfortable win at the Hong Kong Stadium.
Pre-match concerns about the weather and state of the pitch after Wednesday’s opening games were affected by torrential rain proved unfounded, and Villas-Boas paid tribute to Tottenham groundsman Darren Baldwin who has helped repair the surface.
‘Today everything was perfect,’ he said. ‘The game went ahead because our groundsman did a great job for the Premier League. Darren deserves massive credit for allowing this tournament to continue – I hope the Premier League repay him in some way.’
