CAN UNITED LAND BALE?
AFTER the drama of the 2015 Spanish deadline day United might have installed a red phone to signal calls from Madrid. The Bernabeu hotline rang in early December when Real enquired about David de Gea, as well as Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba.
During those discussions, Real said they would potentially offer United first dibs on some of their own first-teamers and Gareth Bale was inevitably mentioned. Jose Mourinho has publicly stressed there is ‘no chance’ of De Gea moving to Madrid although Real may remind him Sir Alex Ferguson vowed he ‘wouldn’t sell them a virus.’ Unless it cost £80m.
Real are mindful that Bale is a player United just cannot seem to quit. Senior club sources admitted midway through last season they were open to lodging another bid for Bale, a player United were first enchanted by as an 18-yearold at Southampton.
“We were disappointed in Southampton at the time because we were first there, but they never came back to us,” Ferguson said of Bale’s 2007 switch to Tottenham. “It was not the boy who turned us down, it was Southampton, then a few weeks later he signed for Tottenham.”
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy encouraged United to enter the auction for Bale in 2013 even though he had decided on a move to Real Madrid months earlier. United actually outbid Real that summer and the 13-times European Cup winners have rebuffed enquiries from Ed Woodward since.
“I can’t buy you because you don’t talk to me!” Mourinho joked with Bale in Santa Clara last July. Now he is talking. The United manager attempted to exert pressure on Bale and Real coach Zinedine Zidane on the eve of the Super Cup in August by insisting he would ‘fight’ for Bale if he did not start in Skopje. He did. “Game over because now everybody knows he is going to stay,” Mourinho conceded afterwards.
Mourinho still has contacts in Madrid and will be keenly aware that Bale has failed to fully integrate and, to date, has conducted one interview in Spanish.
British players do not enjoy long shelf lives at Real. Steve McManaman, who is a fluent Spanish-speaker, lasted four years and David Beckham was barely filmed uttering the lingo. Michael Owen reputedly drove nearly an hour to Madrid Airport to collect English newspapers during his year and Jonathan Woodgate was voted the worst signing of the 21st century by Marca readers.
Bale, with four years remaining on his contract, would command well in excess of that figure and United are already attempting to sign Fred and Toby Alderweireld, who would cost more than £100m combined.