Gareth Bale urged to leave Tottenham for a club with 'culture of victory' by Marcel Desailly

The Welshman has been linked with Manchester United and Real Madrid

Gareth Bale celebrates his winner against Sunderland (GETTY IMAGES)

Gareth Bale should leave Tottenham for a club that has a “culture of victory”, according to Marcel Desailly.

The Spurs forward has just had the best season of his career, scoring a remarkable 31 goals for club and country.

Tottenham's failure to qualify for the Champions League has led to increased speculation that the 23-year-old could leave White Hart Lane, although the player himself has dropped hints over the last few days that he will stay.

Desailly thinks Bale cannot fulfill his ambitions at the north London club, however, and believes the time is right for the Wales international to move on.

"He should go, he should just go. Tottenham will not give him the opportunity to play at a very high level," Desailly told the BBC.

"There's no price for experience. I think it's the time for him to go."

Desailly played in France, Italy and England during a glittering career that saw him collect two Champions League winner's medals.

Bale has claimed several times throughout his career that he would have no problem playing abroad and Desailly thinks experiencing football in a foreign country is vital to a player's development.

"He needs to discover, as [David] Beckham has done, that an English guy or a Welsh guy has the capacity to export himself," the Frenchman said.

"It's not a matter of money because he has [money] where he is at Tottenham - it's just the experience.

"Experience to play at a very high level at a club that has the culture of victory, a club that has trophies in the cupboard - not one or two, but plenty.

"To experience playing with other big players, to be maybe a second choice.

"To face difficulty, a new language for his family.

"It's a real change of life and an approach to life as a human being and as a soccer player."

Bale last night came off the bench to play the final 30 minutes of Tottenham's end-of-season friendly against Jamaica in the Bahamas, which ended 0-0.

PA