Van der Vaart urges Bale not to skip out on Tottenham

Rafael van der Vaart has urged Gareth Bale not to quit Tottenham.

With Tottenham mounting a strong push for the title this season, Van der Vaart is praying that Bale will want to stay at White Hart Lane and feels he will only get even stronger if he remains in north London.

Van der Vaart told the Sunday Mirror: “He is ­really good. He’s strong, his body is amazing and its like a ­machine. The next step is maybe a bigger club but it’s good for him to stay here for a few years.

“He is still young and when you leave early to another club, country, its difficult so I hope he’s going to stay much longer in England. He is fantastic.

“He has the body, the skills to be a big player. He’s still young and he has to learn a lot.

“To learn you have to play more big games and you saw him last season against Inter Milan’s Maicon, maybe one of the best players in the world – it was impressive.”