Gareth Bale quashes Spurs exit rumours as he reveals: I love playing for Andre Villas-Boas

 
P9 Gareth Bale
Getty
Andy Hodgson6 June 2013

Gareth Bale has dropped his biggest hint yet that he will stay at Tottenham.

Bale has been linked with a summer move to Real Madrid and his agent last week said the Football of the Year would listen to offers from the Bernabeu.

But the 23-year-old Welshman, who is under contract at White Hart Lane until 2016, has revealed he loves playing under manager Andre Villas-Boas and believes Spurs have an exciting future with the Portuguese in charge.

“He has helped me in all aspects of my game,” Bale told Spurs TV. “In training we have been working on things that I can do in games and in games he has given me the confidence to do what I want and do what I do best, which is a massive thing for a player.

“Everyone was excited about him coming in. He is a young manager and he has got a great past at Porto. Maybe not so much at Chelsea but given time, like he has been this season, he has shown what a good manager he is. It has been a very exciting time for the club.

“He has tried his new tactics, his new style of play with us. Sometimes it does take a bit of time just to get used to it and at the start of the season I think that was a bit difficult. But we adapted and got stronger and stronger.”

Standard Sport revealed last month that Bale has already agreed a new £130,000-a-week contract but Madrid president Florentino Perez will still try to test Daniel Levy’s resolve with a huge bid this summer.

Bale won the Professional Footballers’ Association and Football Writers’ Player of the Year awards this season but says he is not getting carried away by individual honours.

“You just keep focused on the job in hand,” he said. “It has been an amazing season for me but it has been a great team effort. We have grown as a team all season and I think that helped me individually and that is why I am able to play so well and get my awards.”

Bale also admitted he enjoys the extra attention he receives from opposition fans. “I get more abuse than anyone away from home,” said the Wales international.

“You get used to it. I suppose it’s a compliment, that they don’t want you doing anything good, they try to put you off. It’s all good fun and games.”

Meanwhile, Spurs are set to name Franco Baldini as their technical director after the Italian left his post as general manager of Roma.

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