Barcelona have watched transfer target Gareth Bale of Tottenham seven times this season – report

The European Champions have stepped up their interest in the Wales winger as they prepare a summer bid, although they are reportedly put off by the £40 million price-tag

4 Feb 2012 10:31:00

More On :  Barcelona, Tottenham, Gareth Bale
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Barcelona have watched Gareth Bale seven times this season as they prepare a summer bid, according to The Daily Mirror.

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The Tottenham winger has been in spectacular form in recent seasons and was voted PFA Player of the Year at the end of last season. He was also recently selected in Uefa’s Team of the Year for 2011, which has led to the former Southampton youngster being linked with the world’s biggest clubs.

European champions Barcelona have reportedly taken a keen interest in Bale although they have so far refused to talk publicly about their admiration. But The Mirror claims they have sent scouts on several occasions to take a close look at the winger, who is reportedly also interesting their Spanish rivals, Real Madrid.

Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta has reportedly sounded out Bale’s representatives as they prepare a bid, although they have been deterred by a price tag that could be upwards of £40 million.

The Catalan giants are thought to favour a bid of cash plus players as they try to tempt Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy into a sale in the summer transfer window.


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England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 4-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.

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20:06 BST
So, that game gave a few players a chance to impress for England. Who did/didn't? Will Welbeck start against France? Or Carroll? Or Defoe?!

19:59 BST
Unfortunately for Northern Ireland, they are trailing the Netherlands 4-0 at half-time. Looks like that one's all sewn up then.
19:54 BST
We're still getting plenty of Hazard chat on Twitter. A few are now saying that he's not worth the hype, others saying he was brilliant(!?) and others (which I agree with), saying he created much of his own hype. What do you think? Get involved!
19:46 BST
Joe Hart has also been giving his thoughts after the Belgium game: "It was a really tough game, a good run out. I thought we played well, [but] we were a little bit bitty at times.

"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.

"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."

"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."

Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
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