Are Tottenham holding back on Bale transfer intentionally?

The ongoing saga of Gareth Bale's imminent transfer from Tottenham to Real Madrid shows no sign of drawing to a close, but are there other reasons why Spurs have decided to hold back on a transfer for the Welshman?

Despite Gareth Bale's best efforts to push through a transfer to Spanish giants Real Madrid, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has refused to pull the trigger on a transfer for the forward. Daniel Levy has garnered a famous reputation for being one of the toughest negotiators around, but his persistence on the Bale front could be intentional.


This summer's transfer market appears to have reached a standstill, with at least four clubs all indirectly or directly having a say in what could be one of the most expensive transfer deadline days in history.


According to reports, Willian came very close to securing a move to Tottenham only for Chelsea to intervene and make a last minute bid for the Anzhi player. Spurs apparantly were dwindling on their cash offer for the Brazilian player and Chelsea made a far superior offer for the former Shakhtar Donetsk man. 


Tottenham are believed to have already secured a deal to sign Argentinian international Eric Lamela, but have asked Roma to withhold information so to protect the valuation of Real Madrid bound Gareth Bale. The same appears to apply with Real Madrid, though. Arsenal were linked with a move for Luis Suarez for the majority of this summer but Liverpool told the Gunners that their huge offer for Suarez had to be improved for them to even consider a move away for the Uruguayan.


Since Arsenal's interest in Suarez appears to have finished, Real Madrid are now back in the race to sign the forward. The most interesting development could well be that Real are not willing to match the reported 100 million asking price for Bale, but will instead pay a massive 60 million Euros for Suarez.


Daniel Levy appears to be keeping his cards close to his chest. Every summer, the Tottenham chairman shows just how excellent of a negotiator he really is. Track your way back two summers ago, when Real Madrid negotiated a massive fee for Luka Modric. Track back yet another year and Chelsea also failed to agree terms with Tottenham for the Croatian, partially because of Levy's insistence.


One thing is for sure, Tottenham appear to be governing the transfer market and their decisions are likely to have some impact on the progress of at least three other teams before the transfer window slams shut.