Tottenham face a fight to keep winger Gareth Bale (right)
Bale is seen as the ideal replacement for Eric Abidal (centre)
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Gareth Bale has shot to the top of Barcelona's summer shopping list as Eric Abidal recovers from his liver transplant.
The Catalan giants also want to sign Robin van Persie, but will have to sell if they want to spend more than their transfer kitty of £40million at the end of the season.
Bale is seen as the ideal long-term replacement for 32-year-old left back Abidal, despite playing further up the pitch for Tottenham in recent seasons.
Manchester City and Liverpool target Javi Martinez is also a Barca target, along with his Athletic Bilbao target Iker Munain - according to El Mundo Deportivo.
Bale, 22, recently admitted it would be difficult to turn down a move to the Nou Camp or their biggest rivals.
'If you are talking about Barcelona or Real Madrid, two of the biggest clubs in the world, it's a once-in-a-lifetime dream,' he said. 'If you said to any young player that you could play for Barcelona or Real would they turn it down? Probably not.'
Tottenham could find it hard to keep hold of some of their most high-profile if they miss out on Champions League football this season, with Harry Redknapp's future at the club also an unsettling factor.
Barca estimate it would cost almost £30m to prise Bale from White Hart Lane, and they would have to cash in on other players to launch a parallel raid for Van Persie.
The Arsenal striker has many admirers - including Manchester City, Real Madrid and AC Milan - and is out of contract at the end of next season.
Martinez, who is seen as an alternative to tough-tackling Sergio Busquets, and winger Muniain have both been key parts of Bilbao's impressive rise, but both have buy-out clauses in excess of £33m.
By ASHLEY GRAY
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