Tottenham coach Andre Villas-Boas warned the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona that they cannot afford Gareth Bale during the January transfer window. The Welshman helped himself to three goals in a 4-0 demolition of Aston Villa on Wednesday. It was the first EPL hat trick of the 23-year-old’s career.

“Gareth is up there with the best,” Villas-Boas told reporters. “He is helping the team and we recognize he is one of our major assets for sure. But in England there are no release clauses and a player of this dimension has a market value that is not attainable for most other clubs.

“It was an important day for him with his first hat trick in the Premier League. He has shown tremendous skills and talent. He is improving every day as such a young player and has a wonderful personality. As he learns to feel even better in this team then probably his performances will improve.”

The win moved Spurs back up to fourth place in the EPL standings, level on 33 points with Everton and West Bromwich Albion, but leading due to a superior goal difference.