Real Madrid give up pursuit of Tottenham forward Gareth Bale... for now

Determination at White Hart Lane to retain the Welshman appears to have worked

Gareth Bale has three years left on his contract at Tottenham (Getty Images)

Real Madrid have apparently conceded defeat in their attempts to lure Tottenham forward Gareth Bale to the Bernabeu, at least for now.

The Spanish giants will not make a move this summer but are confident Bale will make the move into "the big time" in 12 months time.

Real have made no secret of their admiration for the Wales international, with a number of key figures from the club, including president Florentino Perez and new assistant coach Zinedine Zidane making their interest public.

Many of those attempts to unsettle last season's Players' and Writers' Player of the Season were made through Marca, the Spanish newspaper often seen as the club's mouthpiece.

However, Marca revealed today that the club have given up for this summer after realising Spurs would not buckle.

An article on Marca's website, stated: "Real Madrid have decided to put the Gareth Bale signing on hold. After receiving yet another "no" from Tottenham Hotspur, Florentino Perez and his team have decided to call it a day and now see the signing of Bale this summer as impossible.

"Daniel Levy, the English club's president, is not open to negotiation, and faced with such inflexibility, reaching any sort of agreement is not viable."

Last night, Bale's agent Jonathan Barnett confirmed that Madrid had yet to even make a bid and that the winger was focussing on returning to pre-season training next week.

Bale is understood to be happy at White Hart Lane and he was not prepared to force a transfer like Luka Modric did to Madrid last summer.

However, Madrid are hopeful that they will succeed in 12 months' time and will make a stronger attempt to buy the 23-year-old then.

The article in Marca added: "He is content to stay for another year in England, despite the fact that his club will not be taking part in the Champions League. He says that he's very thankful to Tottenham and that he's happy where he is.

"Bale has no release clause, will not be making a transfer request, and considers that, being only 23, he has time enough to make the jump into the big time. And when that happens, he wants it to be with 'Los Blancos'."

Bale has three years remaining on his contract and has been offered an improved deal worth £130,000 a week.