Can Spurs hang on to Bale?

Another week passes and yet another highlight reel moment from Tottenham's mercurial hitman Gareth Bale.

His brace, the second of which will be considered goal of the season by many, navigated Spurs past a tricky match against West Ham and lifted the Londoners to third in the table.

Bale has become Spurs' go-to-man, like Arsenal and van Persie last season, and his goals have kept his team firmly in the race for the Champions League spots available.

As the dust settles following the West Ham game it is notable how much talk there is on the subject of whether Spurs will be able to retain the Welshman's services during the summer as undoubtedly many of Europe's 'heavyweights' will have woken up and taken notice of Bale's outstanding form.

It will take a very high fee, though, somewhere in the region of £60 million plus for Spurs to realistically take an offer into consideration. There are only a select few clubs who have those cash reserves and two of them preside in Spain.

Manchester Cityobviously have a bit of extra cash to burn but they already have a very large wage bill and Bale's talents demand a high weekly wage.

Spurs could invest all they have in keeping him with club but Andre Villas Boas will have to ensure that Champions League football will be played at White Hart Lane next season if they are to keep Bale. It is an absolute must.

If Spurs can finish in the top four and assure Bale that they will try their utmost to build a side that will challenge the for the title around him then it would be hard for him to leave a club where he is adored and has developed into a world class talent.

Even that, though, may not be enough for Bale to be allured by the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona.

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