• Premier League

Bale risks fine with Spurs no-show

Gareth Bale risks being fined by Tottenham Hotspur if he does not report for training on Tuesday amid Real Madrid's interest in him, according to the Daily Mirror.

The 24-year-old is being targeted by the Spanish giants in what would likely be a world-record deal, and has reportedly told Spurs he wants to leave after six years at White Hart Lane.

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The Wales forward is - according to the paper - "unhappy and disappointed" at the firm bargaining position Tottenham have taken over the prospective transfer, as they look to extract a fee which would eclipse the £80 million Real paid for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009, while Spurs head coach Andre Villas-Boas has expressed his displeasure at the manner in which Real have conducted their pursuit of the player.

All of Tottenham's players are due back at the club's training ground on Tuesday, having been given an extended weekend off following Saturday's friendly against Monaco, which they lost 5-2 at the Stade Louis II.

Should Bale not report for duty, it would be seen as a widening of the rift between him and Tottenham and potentially hasten his departure from the club.

Bale's former team-mate, Hamburg midfielder Rafael van der Vaart, admitted he is astonished at the rapid development of the Welshman from young full-back to PFA and Football Writers' award-winning attacker.

"His development totally surprised me," Van der Vaart told Die Welt. "In my first season in London Bale played left-back, then played left wing and recently he played on my position. All of a sudden he scores 21 goals in Premier League. Nobody would have expected this."

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