Gareth Bale will miss Tottenham Hotspur’s opening match of the Premier League season this weekend against Crystal Palace due to his recurring injury, says Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas.
Villas-Boas was asked whether Bale would start against Palace, to which he replied:
“No because he has been out injured for most of the pre-season. He was involved in the games that we had against Brentford and Swindon but not any more for different reasons.
“He pulled a muscle on his gluteus that prevented him from being involved for two weeks. He has been complaining with pain in his foot. I think the most natural thing is for us not to involve him in this new game coming against Palace.”
Meanwhile, the Portuguese manager had this to say on talkSPORT about Bale:
“This is a player of great importance for Spurs and a player we are not willing to negotiate for.
“We recognize the interest from other clubs but we can’t do anything at this stage.”
At this point, it’s a race against time for Gareth Bale. Either a deal is pushed through between now and early September, or the Welshman stays as a Tottenham footballer for at least six more months. Who will win the tug of war? Tottenham, Real Madrid or Manchester United?
Here are today’s world soccer news headlines:
Premier League
- Gareth Bale will miss Premier League kick-off as speculation mounts over move — Evening Standard
- Newcastle United FC’s Loic Remy could be ruled out until mid-September — Newcastle Chronicle
- Premier League insists fixtures are random despite David Moyes claims — Sky Sports
- Fulham beat Crystal Palace with last-ditch deal for Darren Bent — Evening Standard
- Arsenal blow as Wolfsburg pounce to agree £17 million deal with Bayern Munich for Luiz Gustavo — Telegraph
- Identity and the EPL: Connecting England’s top clubs to teams in North America — Pro Soccer Talk
- Manchester City still in talks with West Brom over Scott Sinclair — Manchester Evening News
- American fans to watch every EPL game live on NBC – and they’re pinching MOTD — Metro
- Virgin Media adds BT Sport to UK programming — BT Sport
- How football reporters dumb down press conferences — Football 365
- Arsenal target’ Edin Dzeko to stay at Manchester City — ESPN FC
- EPL fans need £1.8k to follow home games — Sports Business Group
- Setanta to show EPL highlights in Ireland after RTÉ pulls out — SportsPro
- Chelsea close in on Sami Khedira as he demands exit from Real Madrid — Metro
- Man City to turn to Argentine veteran defender Demichelis if Pepe bid fails — Manchester Evening News
- Wes Brown to miss Sunderland-Fulham game with a minor knock — Newcastle Chronicle
- Newcastle fan charged with punching police horse after derby defeat — Shields Gazette
- Liverpool manager refusing to speak about Suarez until after his suspension — Pro Soccer Talk
- Tottenham striker Roberto Soldado promises 20 goals this season — Metro
International soccer
- Ecuador-Spain friendly halted for 11th minute tribute to Christian Benitez — Dirty Tackle
- Fabio Capello shrugs off sack threat after Russia crash to defeat against Northern Ireland — The Mail
- New Zealand to host FIFA U20 World Cup — One News
- Scudamore: It is impossible to hold winter World Cup — Evening Standard
- The buried story from Bosnia: 27 minutes of Aron Johannsson — Pro Soccer Talk
- Richard Scudamore wants 2022 World Cup moved from Qatar — The Mail
- England versus Scotland football clash on ITV attracts 9 million viewers — The Guardian
Serie A
- AC Milan striker Balotelli makes secret hospital visit — Tribal Football
- Napoli try to gazump QPR’s bid for Duvan Zapata — Sky Sports
Football League
- Leeds Utd owner quietly sells off more than half stake — The Guardian
The Daily Soccer Report is your morning guide to the latest world soccer news headlines, so you don’t have to spend an hour or more scanning the Internet. We do all the work for you. Read The Daily Soccer Report on World Soccer Talk every morning to stay on top of all the news that matters.
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