Staying, for now ... Steven Gerrard backs Luis Suarez's Anfield stay. Source: Andrew Yates / AFP
Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas and Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard back their club's star players to remain for next season.
Villas-Boas has been assured that talisman Gareth Bale will be at White Hart Lane next season, regardless of whether Spurs qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
The Wales international forward, who added the Football Writers' Association award to his PFA double on Thursday, is one of the most sought-after players in world football having drawn interest from various clubs throughout Europe.
But the Spurs boss back-tracked on Thursday, stating his comments had been misunderstood, and said he would be surprised if the 23-year-old left White Hart Lane.
Villas-Boas said: "The information that I have from the club, which was mistakenly written about last week, is that the player is here to remain, independent of the objectives of Champions League qualification being achieved or not.
"I would be extremely surprised (if he left).
"In football anything can happen. It's impossible to predict, but this is the assurance I have had from the club.
"We understand that the more awards the more recognition the player will have, the more media attention, but the club has to move forward by holding onto its best players.
"With the recognition and the further experience that he has had from this year, next year for Tottenham he will be even more assertive."
Bale's progress this year has not gone unnoticed by Real Madrid, but Villas-Boas and chairman Daniel Levy are digging their heels in over the player's future.
Villas-Boas added: "Whatever price tag the player has doesn't matter to us because he's our player.
"He's a player we have to hold onto for the remaining seasons to make sure that we reach our objectives and continue to progress as a club."
The Real hierarchy have always publicly remained coy on the prospect of adding Bale to their squad, but their sporting director Zinedine Zidane heaped praise on the Welshman this week, leading to speculation that a big-money bid could be on the cards.
Such words from a man of Zidane's standing will no doubt have caught Bale's eye, but Villas-Boas has no issue with the Frenchman's comments.
"It's fine, I have no problems with it," Villas-Boas said. "In the end it's great for a player of Zidane's dimension to be speaking about Gareth.
"It's good to have that public recognition from someone who has reached the biggest heights of the game."
Meanwhile at Anfield, Gerrard believes controversial striker Luis Suarez will remain at the Premier League club next season.
Suarez is currently serving a 10-match suspension for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic, leading to suggestions he may quit Anfield in the summer, but Gerrard is confident the Uruguay international will stay.
"Luis has done the right thing by apologising and taking his medicine," Gerrard told the Liverpool Echo.
"He's really unhappy he can't help the team, and he was really down when the ban came through. But once he is back from his ban, we will be the ones that benefit.
"Luis will want to make it up to the club and the team that he has been out for so long. He will be desperate to atone for that.
"I don't think that what's happened to Luis will affect him much in terms of his future. Maybe one day we will have to accept that Luis wants to move on, and that will be his decision.
"But I don't see any signs of it at the moment. Luis has been really happy here at Liverpool and he seems settled here. I don't see him wanting to leave right now."
Gerrard did concede they need to strengthen the squad in the summer though, with a new forward high on manager Brendan Rodgers' shopping list.
"You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know we still need another striker," he said.
"You look at top teams in Europe and at United, City and Chelsea, and they all have three or four top strikers. That's something we haven't had.
"We had one until January. Then Sturridge came in and we have two. In my opinion, to compete at the top we need to have three or four strikers."
