Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has ruled out the possibility of Gareth Bale leaving the club during the January transfer window.

The Welsh winger has been linked with Real Madrid, with some believing that a partnership between the Galacticos and the Premier League club could see a £56m transfer agreed.

However, Villas-Boas has moved to scrap these reports by claiming that it would be “impossible” for the 23-year-old to leave in the New Year:

“It is completely impossible he will leave in January.” He is quoted by the Daily Mail.

“The transfer window always gives you the opportunity to strengthen your squad. Teams will lose players to African Cup of Nations, but there is a chance to strengthen a little bit. Ideally you’d prefer to avoid it. It’s for us, we should plan our season, stick to players we see in summer, define our season in our season plan and go on from there.”

The Portuguese coach went on to suggest that the mid-season transfer window can do more harm than good:

“I think ideally for managers and clubs it would be a better situation if the window didn’t open or opened for less than one month.

“For players it is important to have that possibility to go and play more.”