Real Madrid Urged to Make £80m Bid for Gareth Bale

Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has advised the La Liga club to splash out big money on Tottenham Hotspur winger Gareth Bale.

Current Real chief Florentino Perez has spoken of his admiration of the Wales international, who won the PFA Players' Player of the Year, Young Player and Football Writers' Footballer of the Year awards after scoring 26 goals for Tottenham last season.

Bale himself has constantly remained open to a move abroad, and with his contract due to expire in 2016, manager Andre Villas-Boas has urged him to pen a new deal to quell speculation regarding his future.

However, Bale is still to respond to such a demand, swelling speculation that Tottenham's inability to quality for the Champions League for a third successive season could spark his departure from White Hart Lane, and Calderon, who brokered deals for Arjen Robben and Pepe among others during his days at the Bernabeu, has told his former side to break the bank for the Premier League's hottest property.

"Everyone wants to have Gareth Bale at their club," he told talkSPORT. "He is one of the best players I have seen on the football field over the last few years. He has got everything and is one of the best."

When asked if Madrid should spend as much as £80m on Bale, Calderon added: "If you have it [why not]? I have always said that money is better on the field than in the bank.

"If you can afford to pay that sort of money [you should] because you will receive more from a player like Bale or Ronaldo [than in a monetary sense]."

The future of Bale is rapidly becoming the transfer saga of the summer and Real's interest will test the ambition of Tottenham, who are unable to offer top tier European football once again next season after allowing a seven point advantage over north London rivals Arsenal to slip in the final months of the season.

Chairman Daniel Levy will be preparing to play hard-ball in similar fashion to the deal involving Luka Modric that saw the Croatian denied the opportunity to leave Spurs before joining Madrid a season later.

However, with Tottenham remaining on the peripheral of European football's top table and having only briefly flirted with a tilt at the Premier League title, Levy will be hard pressed to retain Bale, especially should the club be offered a world record equalling fee for the Welshman and with Spurs having to finance a new stadium in the coming years.