If United are serious about getting better, they should start casting Baleful looks
razzmatazz. Sign a player who is not overly concerned with his social media profile.
Sign a player who would rather have nine holes of golf than launch his own fashion range.
Well, at least TRY to sign that player.
Gareth Frank Bale is a heck of a footballer.
What he has achieved at the Bernabeu might actually mark him down as one of the greatest British players of all time, certainly one of the greatest exports.
He makes the headlines when he is getting treated appallingly by Zinedine Zidane, when he is out on the course rather than schmoozing with the glitterati of Madrid.
He rarely makes the headlines for his wonderful achievements.
And they are plentiful.
The mood music coming from Old Trafford’s corridors of powers over the past couple of days suggests patience remains with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s regime. Let’s see how long that lasts if Liverpool give United a good old cuffing on Sunday week.
But, more crucially, maybe, United are reported to have clear recruitment targets in January and next summer.
And, while the emphasis is likely to be on younger players, Bale – a 30-year-old without excessive miles on the clock – should be one of those targets.
He might not fancy it, of course. Had Real Madrid been willing to let him go without a fee in the summer, he probably would have headed to China for a £1million-aweek contract.
Even United cannot pay that sort of dough. Not even a decent fraction of it.
It would also take some doing to persuade Bale to join a team that looks some way off competing for a top-four slot.
And Real may not be willing to let him leave without getting a replacement.
Despite his travails with Zidane, Bale has been a key figure in Real leading the way in La Liga this season.
But it is clear Bale and Real has now become a deeply unhappy marriage.
Apparently, United want players with an ‘X Factor’. Bale certainly has that. And, despite injury issues, his statistics are impressive. In 53 Champions League appearances for Real, he has scored 16 times and registered 14 assists.
In 161 La Liga appearances, he has scored 80 times and registered 46 assists.
Paying big wages for a superstar has backfired recently at Old Trafford, although the criticism of Paul Pogba has been way over the top and mainly unjustified.
But, after the Alexis Sanchez debacle, the club might be wary of making a box-office signing.
Yet, while the philosophy of rearing home-grown talent and developing youthful purchases such as Aaron Wan-bissaka and Daniel James is admirable, United should remain a club of box office signings.
And that is why they should go all out for one of the finest footballers of his generation.
JOSE MOURINHO is said to be monitoring the situation at Tottenham Hotspur.
I’m sure he is.
But why on earth would Tottenham ever monitor Mourinho (left)?
If you are a progressive, elite club, you don’t hire a guy who has been dumped three times by fellow Big Six members. As brutal as it sounds, Jose’s days at the top end of the Premier League could well be restricted to a TV studio these days.