Wigan Athletic manager Roberto Martinez has urged Gareth Bale to think hard about joining a foreign team.

The Tottenham Hotspur winger has been linked with moves to Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid in recent seasons.

However, Martinez believes that players can lose their effectiveness when they join Europe's biggest teams and thinks that Bale should consider his options carefully.

"It is a real compliment when people talk about him and Barcelona or Real Madrid - there are only a handful of players around in the world who can fit that criteria. Bale could fit in there, without a doubt," the Spaniard told reporters.

"Sometimes you go to a bigger club and think it's going to be perfect, but you lose your role and you are no longer the star player but one of five or six.

"Some players enjoy the responsibility of being the main player, but they don't have the same impact when they go to other clubs when there are so many about. Only the player will know that. He is already at a top team and playing so well, so he will always consider that."

Wigan travel to White Hart Lane to face Spurs in the Premier League on Saturday.