Wenger Says Real Madrid's £87m Bid For Gareth Bale Is A Joke; Bale to Miss Monaco Match

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says that Real Madrid’s £87million bid for Tottenham Hotspur’s Gareth Bale is a joke. Meanwhile, Spanish media are reporting that Gareth Bale has asked not to be included in tomorrow’s friendly against AS Monaco, so the player can avoid injury and his agent can finalize a deal.

Spanish newspaper AS reports that Bale’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, told the paper that Bale will remain in London while the Tottenham Hotspur squad travel to the Mediterranean for tomorrow’s friendly. The paper adds that Tottenham Hotspur have agreed with Bales’s wishes. For readers in the United States, the friendly between AS Monaco and Spurs will be shown live on beIN SPORT at 12:30pm ET Saturday.

Wenger, meanwhile, is upset at Real Madrid’s lack of adherence to the Financial Fair Play rules, saying:

“It makes a joke of it. It’s quite amazing that in the year where the financial fair play comes in, the football world has gone completely crazy.

“You wonder what kind of impact and effect it has on the football world. It looks like it has made everybody worse than before.

“It is never good to lose a big player. He is a British player and I believe it is important that the Premier League keeps the best players.”