Andre Villas-Boas Plotting Further Signings at Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas will continue to add to his squad to boost the club's assault on Champions League qualification but Gareth Bale will begin the campaign on the side-lines after limited pre-season action.

The Wales international sat out his country's friendly against Republic of Ireland on Wednesday after being deemed by manager Chris Coleman to be mentally unsettled.

Bale's lack of pre-season involvement has been linked to a wrangle over his future at Tottenham, with Real Madrid heavily linked with a world record £85m bid for the PFA Players' Player of the Year.

Interest from the Spanish capital has cooled of late with manager Carlo Ancelotti stating the 24 year old is not in his plans for the new season while president Florentino Perez is unwilling to match Spurs' astronomical valuation.

The north Londoners begin their Premier League campaign against newly promoted Crystal Palace this weekend and Villas-Boas says Bale will not be involved having had limited game time in the off-season.

"No, because he's been out injured for most of pre-season," Villas-Boas replied when asked if Bale was in his plans for the trip to Selhurst Park.

"He was involved in the games against Brentford and Swindon but not any others, for different reasons; pulled a muscle in his gluteus that prevented him from being involved for two weeks and he's been complaining of pain in the foot.

"I think the most natural thing is to see him not involved against Palace."

Tottenham confirmed the capture of their fourth summer signing in French midfielder Etienne Capoue on Thursday, having already added Brazilian Paulinho, Belgian winger Nacer Chadli and Spanish forward Roberto Soldado.

Villas-Boas' side missed out on qualification for the Champions League for a third successive year after Arsenal staged a 10 match unbeaten run at the end of the season to overhaul their local rivals.

But the Portuguese boss is leaving no stone unturned this summer in Tottenham's pursuit of the top four.

"We have been very active in the transfer window - not just players coming in, but players going out. The ultimate objective is to make the team stronger than the year before," he added.

"We couldn't manage to get in the top four spot we wanted [last season]. Our ambition stays the same and for that to happen we have been very, very active in the transfer window. We are trimming down the squad to make it strong.

"We haven't finished our business. We will continue to be active and hopefully have the team ready in the next few weeks."