Spurs Boss AVB Criticises Carlo Ancelotti and Denies Gareth Bale Transfer

Andre Villas-Boas has criticised Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti for the club's continued pursuit of Gareth Bale.

The Welsh international has been heavily linked with a move to the Spanish capital all summer long, with Madrid president Florentino Perez, sporting director Zinedine Zidane and the local press leading calls for the 24-year-old to push Spurs chairman Daniel Levy into transfer talks.

Last week, after considerable pressure, the Premier League side appeared to finally cave in and agree to discuss terms. The news was confirmed by Ancelotti, who told reporters while on pre-season in the US, "I believe the club is in talks to find a solution and we will see what happens. It is difficult to talk about Bale because he is not a Real Madrid player at present."

Matters then seemed to move swiftly, with talk of a massive world record package of £105m exchanging hands; the package was understood to include at least one Madrid first team star, most likely Portugal left-back Fabio Coentrao, moving to White Hart Lane in exchange.

Now though, AVB claims talk of a transfer is untrue. The Portuguese also expressed disappointment at the lack of respect from Santiago Bernabeu officials.

"Carlo is a person I appreciate and we have great respect for each other, but bearing in mind this situation they have decided to make it public. Normally in situations like this it is scrutinised by the Football Association with lots of care and attention. We have seen lots of people speak about a player that is not theirs and we are due some respect," the former Chelsea boss stressed.

"These rumours of an imminent transfer are not true. The only thing we have communicated with Real Madrid is that he is our player and he is not for sale. We are talking with Real Madrid because there is respect between the two clubs following the transfer last season of Luka Modric," AVB concluded.

Meanwhile, Bale has been dropped from Spurs' pre-season friendly in France, against Ligue 1 side AS Monaco, furthering speculation a transfer may actually be close. The move comes after Madrid withdrew Coentrao from a friendly against Major League Soccer (MLS) side Los Angeles Galaxy last week.

Officially, according to the BBC, Bale has a minor injury. However, the fact he has also missed friendlies against Colchester and did not play in the Barclays Asia Trophy in Hong Kong only adds to the uncertainty surrounding his future.