Barca chief: Bale not worth £35m

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell has warned Tottenham they will not get dragged into a bidding war for Gareth Bale.

Barca boss Pep Guardiola is keen to sign the Spurs and Wales flier but Rosell has insisted Bale is not worth £34million (€40million).

Rosell tried to dodge the issue in a TV interview, so as not to push the price up even further, and claimed the final decision will come down to Guardiola.

"Is Bale of interest to us? I won't say and even if it was true I wouldn't talk about it because that would automatically increase the price," said Rosell. "Spurs wouldn't demand 40m Euros but 50m.

"It is up to our technical staff to decide on the player. But we would never pay €40m for him."

Tottenham will be annoyed that the Spanish giants are even talking publicly about Bale, just as they did, to Arsenal's frustration, with Cesc Fabregas.

Guardiola's own future is also in some doubt, because he is on a rolling contract which is due to expire next summer.

Rosell, who had various disagreements with the coach over the signing of Fabregas last summer, insists he wants him to stay even though the desire for constant success is taking a heavy toll.

Rosell added: "Guardiola's future depends on him. The day he says he wants to stay is the day we sign the deal.

"This team creates a lot of envy around the world. But the price of success is very high."