Spurs still the best option for Gareth Bale, insists David Ginola

A dazzling winger gliding past opponents for Spurs, on his way to winning multiple player of the year awards: for David Ginola in 1999 read Gareth Bale in 2013.

Tottenham fans had not had a player as exciting as the silky Frenchman until Bale. It seems - for now - Spurs are determined to resist any offer for the 24-year-old, with Manchester United and Real Madrid persistently linked with deals worth upwards of £60 million (HK$720 million). Ginola believes at least one more season in London may be his best choice - albeit the easy option.

"He knows the team really well, he can rely on the players and the players rely on him," said Ginola, who will be in Hong Kong this week to watch Bale in action against Manchester City, Sunderland and South China in the Barclays Asia Trophy.

"He's got importance and I think he likes to be important in the club. If he signed for a club abroad like Real Madrid, or if he goes to Manchester United, he's going to have to work everything up again. It's a big challenge.

"In the future, because the money on the table is so big, for [Spurs chairman] Daniel Levy, it's going to be complicated; £60 million or £70 million on the table for one player, sometimes you don't think twice, you take the money."

Ginola was among the first wave of dashing foreign imports to the Premier League when he joined Newcastle United from Paris Saint-Germain in 1995. With British players who have made an impact abroad in recent times countable on one hand, Ginola wonders how Bale would adapt were Real to sign him.