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Tottenham are in talks to re-sign Gareth Bale from Real Madrid.
And thete is a possibility that Dele Alli could be heading the other way in an ambitious swap deal.
Bale, who is now 31, has been frozen out at Real by manager Zinedine Zidane, and has barely played for them since lockdown. They would dearly love to sell him, but recognise that, in the current market, there are likely to be no clubs who can afford him, given his current wages.
Instead, they would be willing to loan him for a season, with them subsiding half of his salary.
To try to sugar the deal, Alli could also form part of it, with the England international moving to the Bernabeu on loan, with Real paying all of his wages.
What happens to the two players at the end of their loan spells will depend on their relative performances.
Confirming the discussions, Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett said that he still “loves Spurs” and “that’s where he wants to be”.
Gale left the North London club for Spain in September 2013 for what was a record fee at the time of €100 million (£85 million).
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.