Gareth Bale: Tottenham must move on, says Andre Villas-Boas

Andre Villas-Boas says it is time for Tottenham to move on from Gareth Bale's protracted transfer to Real Madrid.

After a summer of speculation, the Wales international, 24, moved to the Bernabeu in a world record 100m euros (£85.3m) deal on 2 September.

Spurs have made seven major signings of their own, however, and manager Villas-Boas is confident about the future.

"We lost a wonderful player who gave us so much. We wish him all the best. What we have to do is move on," he said.

Villas-Boas signed Paulinho,Nacer Chadli,Roberto Soldado,Etienne Capoue,Vlad Chiriches,Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen at a total cost of around £105m before Bale's move to the Spanish capital was completed.

He added: "We have evolved because we have invested a lot in young players and want to develop a strong team that puts us in the elite of English football. That's what we strive for.

"It would have been made easier with a player of [Bale's] qualities but we were in a position where we had to think if we kept him what would be the consequences of our acts and how difficult it would have been to bring the player back to a level of motivation to work for us."

Villas-Boas, whose side face Norwich on Saturday, said striker Emmanuel Adebayor will be away from the club until Monday due to personal reasons.

The former Arsenal and Manchester City forward, 29, has not featured for Spurs this season and Villas-Boas said: "Up until when I find it appropriate he will train with the development team."