Tottenham chances of keeping hold of Gareth Bale may well depend on whether the club qualify for next season's Champions League, manager Andre Villas-Boas has suggested.
Bale has been linked with Barcelona and Real Madrid for some time, and recently admitted he is interested in playing in La Liga at some point in the future.
And Villas-Boas admits Spurs are "very fortunate" to have the Wales international at White Hart Lane.
"He’s having a tremendous year, he’s such an outstanding player all round," AVB told reporters.
"Is he the best in the league? It’s very difficult, there are lots of players in contention for an award like that. I think he’s certainly amongst the five best players, for sure.
"Players who perform at this level always get the attention - it doesn’t mean that the club doesn’t foresee a continuous future with Gareth.
"I think it’s intimately related to the objectives that we achieve for the season. He’s a player we rate very highly and we aren’t willing to let go.
"Can we keep him? Hopefully yes. It’s difficult for us to have a player of this dimension playing so well, but in the same way it is difficult for other teams - with the economic situation as it is - to buy a player of this dimension.
"At the moment we are very fortunate to have him. I think we can reach our objectives with him at this level, and if we reach our objectives we can hopefully continue to have Gareth in our club.
"Would Champions League qualification secure his future? I think so. This is where most of the clubs want to be, and where most of the players want to play."