Tottenham mum on future of Gareth Bale

Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has refused to be drawn any further on the future of Gareth Bale, who is widely expected to make a record switch to Real Madrid before the September 2 transfer deadline.

Bale, who has a foot injury, was missing once again from the Spurs line-up as the Londoners ended their pre-season programme with a 1-1 draw against Espanyol at White Hart Lane, where summer signing Roberto Soldado marked his home debut with a goal from the penalty spot. "The only thing I can say about the stories is I am not going to comment because everybody has speculated a lot," said Villas-Boas of Bale.

"There are some different stories, some which are not true, with people inventing without knowledge of what is going on.

"The only thing I can tell you is the player is under the treatment of the medical department for this pain in the foot which is disturbing him.

"He has been called up by Wales [for a mid-week friendly against the Republic of Ireland].

"Our medical department is going to be in contact with the Wales medical department to make sure they have everything available in terms of giving information on how the player has been doing in these last weeks.