Football

Clive, all clubs are selling clubs, when the price is right. Do you think if PSG or Real came in with a big money bid for Torres, that Chelsea would turn it down.

I'd prefer if we at Tottenham followed the Arsenal model, not of never challenging and placing all our chips on young players evolving enough to win something, but on making money through youngsters raised through the academy, who aren't good enough for the first team, but are still good enough to do a job for someone. Providing money to buy in older more experienced players who are good enough, but also to keep the academy ticking over so they can produce some talented homegrown youngsters to augment the first team.

you can't keep being a buying team, if you want to remain financially solvent, especially in the top half of the table, because wages and bonuses will break you, unless you are lucky/unlucky* (*delete as appropriate) to have an Abramovich who will spend and spend and spend, until they do not...

The press are running with a story that isn't much of one, as yarklad has mentioned, if we were out of contention for a champions league place, maybe they'd be some merit in it. Bale wants to test himself at the highest level as most players do, and if we can't provide that, then he'd look at his options, but if we do provide that, why would he want to leave, to go and warm the bench of a bigger club. Just look at the careers of young english players that have stifled on the bench at Chelsea, Wright Phillips, Sinclair, Parker, Sidwell, McEachran, Bertrand...

or for a more pertinent example Modric at Real, great for us, an appendix of a player for them.