Florentino Perez: To negotiate Bale's signing

The chances of Gareth Bale becoming Real Madrid's latest 'Galactic' hinge on Florentino Perez. The Real Madrid president believes that the club is the promised land for the top players and knows that there is no hotter property on the market right now than the Welsh player. For this reason, Florentino is going to personally oversee the negotiations to sign the Welshman, as he has done with the rest of the 'Galactics' since he first took up office in 2000.

Gareth Bale

Florentino Perez has done nothing to play down the club's interest in Bale when speaking to the media, insisting: "He's one of the best players in Europe and Real Madrid is always interested in the best". Nevertheless, despite this admission, the Real president has also stressed that the club is eager not to upset Tottenham, whose chairman he knows well. "I met the Tottenham president, Daniel Levy, last year, and he has a duty to protect his interests", Perez recently stated.

That said, Florentino knows that Bale is the man the Real Madrid fans want to see and that he won't come cheap. Tottenham is known to play hardball when it comes to transfer negotiations and will do everything in its power to hold onto the Welshman. Now is the time for Florentino Perez to get down off the fence and fight for Bale. If he pulls off the coup, he could be set for a repeat of his favourite scene: himself unveiling a 'Galactic' in front of a packed-out Santiago Bernabeu.

But the president of Real Madrid is going to find problems.Paris Saint-Germain are preparing a big-money swoop for Tottenham Hotspur’s player. According to the ‘Daily Mail’, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi is ready to outbid Real Madrid by offering the Premier League club 100 million euros for the Welsh international.

Al-Khelaifi is concerned at the growth of Monaco under Russian owner Dmitry Rybolovlev, with the team from the principality shaping up as PSG’s chief rivals in French Ligue 1 next season. In a bid to match Monaco’s summer spending – and offer a show of financial strength – the Qatari has designs on completing a world-record transfer for Bale, exceeding the 94 million euros paid by Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo. Zinedine Zidane, who has championed a Real Madrid move for Bale, acknowledged some days ago that the Spurs star would attract higher bids: “To tempt Tottenham, it’ll be necessary to pay a huge amount. Only four or five clubs could afford him at the moment.”

Bale is currently on holiday in Florida as he mulls over his future. The 23-year-old has insisted that he will not force his departure from the North London club, and that any exit from White Hart Lane will only be with the agreement of his current employers.