Will Gareth Bale Don Spurs' Kit This Season?

After a season of hope and promise that was supposed to lead to a brighter long-term future, Tottenham Hotspur have been forced to focus on the ongoing transfer saga of Gareth Bale instead of their prospective finish for the 2013-14 English Premier League season.

The 24-year-old Welshman has been a transfer target of Real Madrid all summer long and new so-called developments about the potential deal are coming out in the press on a daily basis.

The latest string of Bale transfer talk continues to make his move to the Bernabeu a closer reality.

According to The Guardian, Bale's image was taken off the official Twitter account of Tottenham on Tuesday.

One minute detail to point out in the Twitter part of the saga is that freshly-minted Seattle Sounder and former Spurs player Clint Dempsey was the other half of that now-defunct background image.

So now we have conspiracy theories about the club's Twitter page joining in on the silly season madness circling around Bale, we have to ask: will he even play for Spurs this season? 

The answer that makes the most sense for both club and player is a simple two-letter word: no.

Bale's escalated transfer saga has hung a black cloud over the club and until a deal is reached with Real Madrid—no matter the size of the fee—both parties will continue to find themselves in the unwanted spotlight.

With their EPL campaign opening on August 18 away to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, the North London club have 12 days to reach a deal with the Spanish giants on Bale before the transfer business becomes an official distraction—if it has not already become one.

Every report on the transfer at this point in time suggests Bale has his heart set on joining Real Madrid and playing in the UEFA Champions League.

This competition is one Spurs cannot use as leverage to retain Bale since they have only qualified for the second-tier competition in Europe, the UEFA Europa League.

The allure of Champions League football has to be one of the main reasons that Bale is considering the move to Spain for the upcoming season.

Another entertaining prospect is the potential of playing alongside the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Ozil, Sergio Ramos and plenty of other stars in the Real Madrid lineup.

Currently, the best supporting cast that Tottenham can offer includes an oft-injured, beaten-down Jermain Defoe, recent La Liga escapee Roberto Soldado and the best Icelandic footballer around in Gylfi Sigurdsson.

While those three players and the rest of the Tottenham squad are strong players in their own right, none compares to the talent roaming around the Bernabeu from week to week.

Oh, and there's also the magnificent transfer fee that Real Madrid are rumored to be throwing at Tottenham.

As a club looking to reload and qualify for the Champions League on a consistent basis, it makes no sense for Spurs to fail to agree on a move for Bale that could potentially pave the way for them to bring in two or three world-class players.

If you were in Bale's shoes, the chances of attaining European glory, playing alongside only world-class talents and of course, a boat-load of cash would be more than enough to draw you away from a club in North London that has failed to finish in front of its fiercest rival in the final table for the last 18 years.

Bale needs a move to Real Madrid and Tottenham need the money to invest in their squad before August ends.

With that being said, there should be absolutely no reason for the Welshman to don Tottenham's blue and white on the opening match weekend of the EPL season.

Do you think Gareth Bale will wear a Tottenham strip this season?

Comment below or leave me a comment on Twitter, @JTansey90.