Real Madrid are planning a summer swoop for Gareth Bale and Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas acknowledged the chances of keeping the Welsh winger at White Hart Lane hinged on Spurs qualifying for the Champions League next season.
Tottenham are currently in fourth place, the last spot for Champions League qualification, but have the likes of Everton, Arsenal and Liverpool breathing down their neck.
Bale has been linked with a move to Real for quite a while now, and the task of keeping the forward who has kept improving with every passing season will be impossible without the prospect of playing in Europe's elite league next season.
"Players who are performing at this level always get the attention," Villas-Boas said. "It doesn't mean that the club doesn't foresee a future with Gareth.
"It's intimately related to the objectives that we achieve for the season. Hopefully, we can do just that with the Champions League and continue to progress on what we are doing.
"It's difficult for us to have a player of this dimension playing so well, calling the attention of other teams but it's also difficult for other teams, with the economic situation as it is, to buy a player of this dimension. At the moment, we are very, very fortunate to have him.
"I think we can reach our objectives with him at this level and if we reach our objectives, we can hopefully continue to have Gareth in our club. He's a player we rate very, very highly and aren't willing to let go.
"The Champions League is where most of the clubs want to be, and where most of the players want to play. It's part of our objectives so hopefully achieving it means we can attract better players and continue to hold on to our best players."
If Real were to make an official offer, it would not be easy to prise Bale, who recently signed a new long-term deal with the club, away, with Tottenham likely to demand in excess of £50 million ($79 million).
