Gareth Bale is expected to be unveiled as a Tottenham player this afternoon.

The 17-year-old Welsh left back will put pen to paper on a £10m deal to take him from St Mary's to White Hart Lane barring any last-minute hitches.

The deal Spurs have struck with Saints will see them lay down a £6m downpayment with a further £4m based partly on instalments and incentives such as appearances, trophies won and European qualification at his new club.

Saints feel they have been left with no choice but to cash in on Bale following the player's decision not to extend his current contract.

Bale now has just one year left to run on the two-year deal he signed on his 17th birthday last July.

Saints face the prospect of losing him for a small tribunal fee in a year's time if he stayed for a further season but refused to extend his contract.

Saints also need the cash to keep finances ticking over as they wait in hope of a takeover from American billionaire Paul Allen.

Bale's expected sale brings to an end the young Welsh international's long association with the club.

He was first discovered as a nine-year-old playing a small-sided game by Saints' Bath satellite academy manager Rod Ruddick.

On joining the academy full-time on leaving school in Cardiff in July 2005, he played for the youth and reserve teams before George Burley handed him his first team debut on Easter Monday 2006.

Manchester United had previously appeared favourites to land Bale.

But they have just spent £17m on signing England international midfielder Owen Hargreaves and are also believed to be ready to spend big to bring in a top class striker.

Spurs - who failed back in January with a similar bid for Bale worth around £10m in total - have been able to dangle the carrot of immediate first team football.

The left-back position was a weakness for boss Martin Jol in 2006/07, even though Spurs still finished fifth in the Premiership for the second season running and qualified for next season's UEFA Cup.

Full story: See today's Daily Echo.