Tottenham Hotspur: Recent Precedent Shows Risk of Gareth Bale Saga Going On

The ongoing Gareth Bale transfer is continuing to dominate discussion when it comes to Tottenham Hotspur.

A range of reports and scuttlebutt linking Bale to Real Madrid are popping up on an almost daily basis.

The situation may resolve itself before then. However, the prospect of it running into the start of the season should be of concern to Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas.

Recent history at the North London club has shown the problems that can be caused by attempting to hang on to want-away players.

Summer 2008 saw then manager Juande Ramos looking to put his imprint on a squad he had inherited the previous October (with assistance from then sporting director Damien Comolli).

This process suffered a costly blow when star strikers Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov each made known their desire to leave.

The tactics of their pursuers and eventual buyers—Liverpool and Manchester United respectively—led to Spurs chairman Daniel Levy complaining to the Premier League, as reported by BBC Sport that July.

Keane was sold soon after, but Levy held out until the last hours of the transfer window for what he deemed a satisfactory fee from Man United for Berbatov.

The deal—BBC Sport reported it as £30.75 million, as well as Frazier Campbell on loan—was a good one in itself. For Ramos and the team though, the ramifications of this process had already proved costly.

Spurs were already suffering a leadership deficit from Keane's sale, as well as the departure of other experienced and reliable performers including Paul Robinson, Steed Malbranque and Teemu Tainio.

The prospect of losing another pivotal player like Berbatov only added to the challenge Ramos was already facing in combining his remaining players with several new faces (such as Luka Modric and Giovani Dos Santos).

The unhappy presence of the Bulgarian contributed to the unsettling of the young squad. While he remained, Spurs took only one point from three games.

In addition, the late departure of Berbatov left Ramos with no time to sufficiently strengthen his attack. Darren Bent was the only established striker at the club with Roman Pavlyuchenko only having just been brought in himself.

Following his sacking in October of that year, Ramos was under no illusion to the reasons behind Tottenham only taking two points in eight matches to start 2008-09.

As he wrote in a statement  on his official website, here via The Guardian, the departures of Keane and Berbatov, "important players in the team for their technical and human qualities and their scoring abilities, was too hard a blow for the squad."

"In the summer we experienced a difficult preseason due to the changes in the squad, which prevented us from working with the tranquility that the summer preparation needs," Ramos added.

"Furthermore the young age of some of the signings, despite their quality, means they needed some time to adapt and mature, which because of the urgency of the competitions they have not yet been awarded."

That summer of '08 bares something of a resemblance to this current one. Both in the lack of that "tranquility", and in the prospect of Spurs holding out as long as possible for a huge sum for a star player they may not have time to spend.

Levy's negotiating skills have proven a double-edged sword since then.

After holding onto Modric through Chelsea's advances in 2011, Levy sold him abroad to Real for a substantial fee late in summer 2012. Villas-Boas had just enough time to bring in more players, but again the team had a slow start in what was going to be a summer of transition regardless.

The Croatian's petulance in the run-up to the 2011-12 campaign contributed to Spurs struggling in already tough opening matches versus the two Manchester clubs. Redknapp told BBC Sport following the 5-1 loss to City that the Modric saga had made it "the worst preseason I've had."

Redknapp had experienced the opposite two years earlier.

After replacing Ramos, he had restored toughness and know-how to the squad in January 2008 in the form of key signings of Wilson Palacios and returning pair Keane and Jermain Defoe.

Heading into that 2009-10 campaign, the majority of Redknapp's squad had been satisfactorily assembled. New additions Peter Crouch and Sebastien Bassong were signed prior to the season's kick-off, with Niko Kranjcar recruited after Modric suffered a long-term injury in Spurs' fourth match.

Not coincidentally, a strong start to what proved to be one of Tottenham's best Premier League campaigns followed that harmonious, laid-back summer.

In the present, former player and current club ambassador Ledley King was unsure of just how detrimental the Bale situation has, or will be, to the Spurs squad.

"You just get your head down and concentrate on performing your best for the team and that's what the players will be doing," King was quoted by the London Evening Standard. 

In referring to the uncertainty of knowing who a player's teammates will be, King did admit that "it can work against you."

How it affects Tottenham remains to be seen. Villas-Boas' own experience last year—and particularly that of his predecessors—shows disharmony and ongoing preparations are not desirable.

Neither though, is losing a player as good as Bale.

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In the summer we experienced a difficult preseason due to the changes in the squad, which prevented us from working with the tranquility that the summer preparation needs.

Furthermore the young age of some of the signings, despite their quality, means they needed some time to adapt and mature, which because of the urgency of the competitions they have not yet been awarded.