But it is understood that Spurs are unwilling to sanction Bale’s move until they have signed at least one new player to fill the Welshman’s position.

Willian bid hijacked
Tottenham looked to be favourites to sign Willian, whose best position is the number 10 role Bale operated in last season, but Chelsea have now entered the race for the Anzhi Makhachkala player with Jose Mourinho expecting his club to sign him from under the noses of Tottenham.

The Anzhi Makhachkala forward even completed a medical at Tottenham, but Chelsea have now hijacked the deal after making their long-standing interest known.

A deal was quickly agreed between the Blues and the Russian club — respective owners Roman Abramovich and Suleyman Kerimov are friends — and Willian has been keen to move to Stamford Bridge since first becoming aware of a potential switch to Chelsea two years’ ago.

Willian

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“I think he’s already made his decision,” Mourinho said.u00a0The self-styled ‘Special One’ nodded in the affirmative when asked if that was Chelsea.

Chelsea will be able to offer the Brazil international Champions League football, but he faces tough competition from Oscar, Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Andre Schurrle for a place in the starting XI.

Even though Spurs have spent £60million this summer, Willian would appear to stand a much better chance of making Andre Villas-Boas’ starting XI. Tottenham will wait to see how the Willian transfer unfolds before giving the green light for Bale to join Madrid.

Spurs are also in talks with Roma officials over the transfer of 21-year-old Roma midfielder Erik Lamela.u00a0Lamela, who can play on either wing or through the middle, wants to move to Tottenham to play in Europe following Roma’s failure to qualify for the Champions League. u00a0