BALE OFF TO MADRID

The ex-Spurs manager believes that the Welshman has his heart set on swapping White Hart Lane for the Santiago Bernabeu after the Spanish side offered €115 million

Gareth Bale has his heart set on a move to Real Madrid, according to former Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp.

Goal revealed on Wednesday that Spurs have finally opened talks with the Spanish outfit over the €115 million sale of the Welshman, while los Blancos coach Carlo Ancelotti also confirmed his side's pursuit of the PFA Player of the Year.

And Bale's former boss at White Hart Lane says that the 24-year-old has begun to dream about life in La Liga.

"I think it'll be difficult for him not to go now. I think he wants to go, if we're truthful," Redknapp told BBC Wales's 'The Backpage'.

"He doesn't want to say it but I hear from different sources that he really wants to go now."

The QPR boss insists that Bale's desire to leave Tottenham is only fuelled by the allure of playing for a prestigious club such as Real Madrid and is not influenced by the potential financial rewards.

"When you're a kid and you start playing football you dream about playing for Real Madrid," Redknapp added. "When I was a kid I saw that great team of Ferenc Puskas, Francisco Ento, Alfredo Di Stefano.

"Real Madrid is a special club. The chance to run out at the Bernabeu only comes once in a lifetime - as [Zinedine] Zidane said the other day, you can't not take it."