Gareth Bale has given his opinion on why Tottenham Hotspur have fallen so far away from the other top sides in the Premier League.
Until recently, the question in everyone’s mind about Tottenham was why they were not able to take that extra step and win trophies.
While Tottenham did manage to silence some critics by winning the Europa League final last season, things have gone completely pear-shaped for the club since.
The North Londoners now find themselves in an extremely precarious position, batting for their Premier League survival, with a new interim head coach in place and an extremely depleted squad.
Tottenham’s wage bill has held them back
Gareth Bale has suggested that Tottenham’s unwillingness to pay the kind of salaries their rivals do is the reason why they have not been able to compete at the top consistently.
He also suggested that the Lilywhites need to be open to paying huge transfer fees if they want to bring elite talent to the club.
When asked for the reason behind Tottenham’s struggles, Bale told The Overlap: “I would say money. They don’t pay as much as United, and you look at the wage bill it’s lower. Buying a 50-million-pound player it’s not what it used to be; you must be spending 80, 90, 100 now just to get a good player.
“They need that bit of a gamble, from a business point of view, they’re maybe not willing to do it. I don’t know how they’re doing financially, but it seems to be that for me, that’s probably the biggest issue they just don’t sign the proven player.”
Spurs are ready to remove the salary cap this summer
It has emerged over recent weeks that Tottenham are ready to remove their restrictive salary cap this summer if they stay up.
This was reported by The Guardian, who claimed that the club’s owners acknowledge their expenditure on wages has held the team back over recent years.
It has also been suggested that Spurs are prepared to undertake a big overhaul of their squad in the summer, but for the moment, everyone at the club will be keeping their fingers crossed that the season does not end in relegation disaster.