Le Tissier: Don't Bale out on Saints

12 April 2012

Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier has urged Tottenham target Gareth Bale to follow his example and turn down a lucrative move to White Hart Lane.

The Wales and Southampton full-back has also been linked with Manchester United and Arsenal but Spurs appear to be leading the race for his signature with reports suggesting 17-year-old has completed a medical at the club's training ground.

But Le Tissier said: "I would certainly like him to stay for at least one more season. I think as a young boy it's important he has a good grounding in the game before he actually moves on."

Le Tissier, who spent his entire career with Southampton between 1986 and 2002, actually signed a contract to move to White Hart Lane in 1991, but opted to remain on the South coast.

He added: "When you go to a big club, I think it's proven with Theo Walcott, I think Theo moved a bit early and he has gone backwards a little since he's been at Arsenal and I hope Gareth doesn't do the same.

"Maybe another season in the Southampton side would do him a world of good before moving on.

"I've seen him play quite a bit now. I've been very impressed and going forward he's one of the best left-backs I've seen. I think he will get better defensively when he gets older.

"I think he will be a top-class player and I think he will play for one of the big teams and I think he is destined for big things."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in