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July 27, 2013

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Spurs launch Bale contract talks

Tottenham has opened new contract talks with midfielder Gareth Bale and are confident of keeping the Wales international despite him being linked with a move to Real Madrid on an almost daily basis, manager Andre Villas-Boas said yesterday.

"He signed a new contract last year but talks have started between the chairman and his agent and are ongoing," Villas-Boas said in Hong Kong, where Spurs are playing in the Premier League Asian Trophy pre-season competition.

"It doesn't mean there is going to be an agreement but we are confident. The player is under contract. He signed a new contract last year, he is a special player, had a wonderful season last year and at the moment we are extremely happy with him.

Bale, 24, signed a four-year deal last year.

According to frenzied reporting in Spain and England since the season ended, Real Madrid is leading the chase for the player. Marca newspaper said Real was preparing to offer Spurs what would be a world-record fee of 85.0 million pounds (US$130.16 million) for Bale.

However, it has also been widely reported that Bale, who became a father for the first time last year, is settled at Spurs and has no plans to leave the London club.

Meanwhile, Wilfried Zaha scored in the first minute of stoppage time yesterday to give Manchester United a 2-2 draw with Japanese club Cerezo Osaka in a preseason friendly in Japan.
Zaha tapped into an open net to ensure the English champions didn't lose their second preseason match in Japan under David Moyes. Yokohama F Marinos scored a late goal to beat United 3-2 on Tuesday.

Cerezo forward Kenyu Sugimoto took advantage of a defensive mistake by United defender Chris Smalling to give his team the lead in the 33rd minute.

Shinji Kagawa was denied on a penalty kick in the 53rd by Cerezo goalkeeper Kim Jin-hyeon, but equalized one minute later, beating Kim from close range.

On Thursday, Chelsea outclassed an Indonesia All-Stars team 8-1 in Jakarta.
The Blues got goals from Hazard (penalty), two from Ramires, two from Romelu Lukaku, Demba Ba, John Terry, and Bertrand Traore.

 

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