AVB hopes Bale saga comes to an end

Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas hopes the long-running Gareth Bale transfer saga will finally come to an end in the next couple of days.Spurs maintained their 100 per cent winning start to the season with a 1-0 victory against Swansea on Sunday, but Bale was not there to watch as he was in Marbella having been given the weekend off.The Welshman has been linked with a world-record move to Real Madrid all summer and the fact that the Spanish giants have erected a stage at the Bernabeu suggests they are preparing to unveil Bale as their latest 'Galactico'.Villas-Boas responded diplomatically when quizzed about the Welshman's future on Sunday night. The Portuguese said there was a possibility that Bale would stay, although he hardly looked as if he meant it, and he defended his star man for missing the game."There is interest from Real Madrid," Villas-Boas said. "Whether the transfer will happen or not, hopefully you will have more news in the next couple of days, but at the moment there is nothing I can tell you."Should a deal not be agreed on Monday then Villas-Boas expects Bale to be back at Tottenham's training ground the following day."Monday is a day off. Tuesday is training so I would expect him to be there," the 35-year-old said. "We have allowed him two days off."It's not the first time this has come up. We never force non-selected players to come to our games. I decided that last season."Chelsea snatched Willian from under Tottenham's noses and Blues boss Jose Mourinho then gloated by criticising Spurs' handling of the Brazilian's medical.Villas-Boas refused to criticise Willian for snubbing Spurs and he even cracked a joke when asked about Steaua Bucharest defender Vlad Chiriches, who is close to joining Spurs for £8.5million.

Source: PA