Real possibility of Bale joining Jose
REPORTS JOSE Mourinho’s hopes of landing Gareth Bale for Manchester United have received a sudden boost with Real Madrid ready to sell the Welsh hero to make way for Kylian Mbappe.
According to Marca, the Spanish sports journal that serves as an unofficial information outlet for Real, manager Zinedine Zidane is growing increasingly confident of landing Monaco forward Mbappe, 18.
But Neymar’s world-record move to Paris Saint-Germain has led Monaco to increase their £125 million valuation, and Real need to balance the books.
Zidane also does not want four big names competing for three places in his attack. He wants to keep Cristiano Ronaldo, while centre-forward Karim Benzema is set to be offered a new deal, which leaves £90m-rated Bale, 28, as the odd man out.
Mourinho has been looking for a wide player all summer and is understood to have given up on Ivan Perisic because of Inter Milan’s £48m asking price.
United have a long-standing interest in Bale but Mourinho said recently he did not want to waste time and energy chasing a player who had given no indication he was unhappy at the Bernabeu.
If Real make it clear they want him out and his first-team chances will be limited by Mbappe’s arrival, that could change Bale’s mood and Mourinho’s stance.
The United manager said this week that he was happy that the club had signed three of his four targets this summer – but added that he would be even happier if they landed a fourth.
One of those realised targets, Nemanja Matic, says United are ready to show they have the credentials to be Champions League winners again by beating Real in next week’s Super Cup clash.
Matic says Tuesday’s showpiece game between the holders of the Champions League and Europa League in Macedonia will be a valuable test of their qualities as they prepare to return to Europe’s top club competition after a season’s absence.
Real became the first back-toback winners of the Champions League in June, 10 days after United lifted the Europa League for the first time. But the Spanish club will be without superstar and former United player Ronaldo and have already lost to Mourinho’s team after a penalty shoot-out in a pre-season game in the USA a fortnight ago.
Matic impressed in a 45-minute debut as United posted their sixth win out of seven warm-ups with a 2-1 victory over Sampdoria in Dublin on Wednesday and says they are now ready to put a marker down against Real.
“Of course it is always a big game when you play against Real Madrid,” said the Serbian who, like United, missed out on playing in the Champions League last season with former club Chelsea. “We are happy that we can compare our qualities with the winners of the Champions League. They showed why they are one of the biggest clubs in the world, so it will be an interesting game for us.
“The whole world will be watching and it is a chance to show the rest of Europe that United are back. I missed playing in the Champions League last season.”
Adnan Januzaj has vowed to prove Mourinho was wrong to allow him to leave United by resurrecting his stalled career with a £9.8m move to Real Sociedad.
“Obviously he is a great trainer but I did not have much of a relationship with him,” Januzaj said. “What I want now is to prove that I am a good player and that they were wrong to let me go.”