The first in a series of blogs from Matt Le Tissier and this one is on a situation that Saints fans will be watching closely, the ongoing Gareth Bale saga.

The pressure is on Tottenham now to cash-in on Garth Bale and I wouldn’t blame them if they did.

A few days ago I said Spurs had pulled off the best business deal of the summer in keeping the Welshman on their books.

But news of Real Madrid’s phenomenal offer of between £80 and £90 million has changed everything- and I can now see the boy leaving.

And, from what I’ve been reading, it could also be good news for my old club Southampton who will collect a £2 million payment under FIFA rules for educating the player.

I was really surprised to hear the size of that bid to be honest because I thought a figure of around £50 million might arrive on the table.

Yet these latest offers are no doubt very tempting for a guy like Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy-it’s a lot of money to turn down.

There are a lot of decent players in the world you could buy with that sort of money which would strengthen his squad enough to launch another serious bid for Champions League football.

It’s whether or not Tottenham feel that Bale is so important to them that they can afford to spurn Real Madrid’s offer at this stage.

I honestly thought the player would be staying in London especially when I saw him photographed in the club’s new strip.

Right now he’s even the poster boy, wearing the Spurs shirt, in New York’s Times Square promoting NBC’s Premier League coverage.

But with all this talk going on he’s going to be a little bit unsettled and I’ve been in the game long enough to know that every player has his price.

There’s very little loyalty around in the game these days and you couldn’t criticise Bale, who has served Tottenham so well, to want to better himself at a club like Real Madrid.

A few years ago he was playing Championship football at my old club Southampton and here he is now with the world at his feet.

For a boy like him to have a chance of playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world and European champions at that is a dream come true for him.

The biggest hurdle Tottenham faced keeping him happy was the fact that they failed to land a Champions League place for this season.

Real Madrid can offer him that luxury which surely must have turned his head a little bit because he needs to be playing on the biggest competition in Europe.

So I don’t blame Gareth for wanting to leave and I don’t blame Levy if he took the cash because that sort of money doesn’t come round very often.

Read Matt Le Tissier’s latest blogs on his new Goalden Goals football website at

www.goaldengoals.co.uk

Photo: Action Images

chilcosaint added 12:33 - Aug 1 What Le Tiss actually said was: “Bale has to listen to what his heart is telling him and not make a move that is bad for him as a person,” said Le Tissier, below. “It is not such a bad option to stay and become the greatest player in a club’s history. I had no regrets about doing that at Southampton and if Bale stays he will be knocking on the door of the Champions League and who knows what he could achieve at Tottenham. “Stay there. Become a legend like Glenn Hoddle. He should at least consider that as an option" That doesn't sound to me like he is urging Bale to go, or, indeed, urging Spurs to let hi go.

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SaintNick added 12:45 - Aug 1 I think the headline said it all, he isn't encouraging Bale to go, but he thinks that the offer is too big for Spurs to turn down
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simmo400 added 12:49 - Aug 1 Who really cares ? Good luck to him win some medals thats all tha will count when he packs it in.
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SaintNick added 14:58 - Aug 1 We should care its worth £2 million to us if he goes, that's should cover the money we have wasted on Forren
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