Fabio Coentrao
Fabio Coentrao will remain a Real Madrid player after failing to agree terms with Tottenham.

Gareth Bale remains on course to join Real Madrid despite Tottenham Hotspur failing to agree a deal to sign full-back Fabio Coentrao.

Spurs have insisted all summer that Bale is not for sale and will stay at White Hart Lane despite Madrid publicly courting the star winger for a number of months.

But with the Spanish giants having offered a record-breaking fee plus Coentrao, the Guardian claims that Tottenham have come round to the idea of selling their top player.

Bale singlehandedly carried Spurs' Champions League qualification hopes last season, with strikers Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor both performing poorly.

Manager Andre Villas Boas and chairman Daniel Levy have been particularly active in the market, signing Spanish striker Roberto Soldado and looking close to tying up a deal for highly-rated Brazilian winger Willian.

With the big-spending taking place over the summer it has become obvious that Tottenham are resigned to losing Bale, and today Gazzetta Dello Sport are reporting that after talks fell through with Coentrao, Real Madrid will stump up the €109m in cash for their sought-after player.

Should the deal be confirmed in the coming days it will seal a long-running transfer saga that has seen Levy negotiate hard to get the best deal possible for the Wales international.

Tottenham will now need to make sure they are aptly equipped to go on without their star, after the 24 year old was such an integral part of their push for a Champions League place last season.

Acquisitions of Nacer Chadli and Paulinho will give the side a boost going into the 2013/14 campaign and Spurs are also believed to be in talks with Roma striker Erik Lamela, which would certainly show a lot of ambition not only to break the top four but to win trophies as well.