NEIL MOXLEY Time to come home, Gareth and be final piece of Jose’s jigsaw
COME home, Gareth Bale.
You’ve mixed it with the best, you can hold your head up high.
You have established yourself as the most successful British export of all-time.
We can j udge it by those Champions League gongs around your neck or by virtue of the fact that – back in the day – you were the most expensive footballer on the planet.
For all of a couple of years at least. But now it’s time to return to the Premier League.
And lead Manchester United back to the top of English football.
Yes, that should be the next stage of a career that has a few more glorious twists in it yet. Being the final piece of Jose’s Old Trafford jigsaw.
It’s no disgrace, being told that you are surplus at Real Madrid. Los Blancos get what they want in football.
It’s always been that way.
After joining Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo might have thought he was playing for the biggest club in the world. He wasn’t. Not when the chequebook was dusted off at the Bernabeu and £80m was transferred into the Glazers’ bank account.
But a move for the Welsh Wizard to another giant of the world game isn’t so much a step backwards, as a step to one side.
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And if there is one side that, at the age of 28, will be worth joining, then the Red Devils are it. For if managers such as Barcelona’s Ernesto Valverde are suggesting that Mourinho’s men will be the ones to watch next season, then it might be worth listening to. And, if you are Bale, act upon it. Because, if Zinedine Zidane says the door is open for one of his three musketeers, then it’s as much of an admittance that someone will be making way for Kylian Mbappe. Zizou also has Marco Asensio, Lucas Vazquez, Karim Benzema, new boy Borja Mayoral and the old winker Ronaldo to choose from.
And a £60m trade-in value with Bale going and Mbappe coming in as a replacement appears solid business in this mental market where transfer fees are rising as fast as the heat from a Majorcan beach.
And Mourinho ( left) has the money to make it a reality. Even though Bale has just signed a new deal until 2022, plenty of cash is still swishing around at Old Trafford with room at the club for star quality. And there is enough energy left in the tank for Bale to cement his position as one of the game’s alltime greats – should he so choose to call time on Madrid.
There is no question either that Mourinho IS interested.
He has even fronted up the Welshman and asked why he wasn’t given any encouragement before last weekend’s friendly between the two. The Portuguese gave as his reason the fact that he knew Bale had no desire to leave Real Madrid behind. It’s one thing if you lack interest. It’s another altogether if you think there is no chance of sign- ing the player in question.
After winning another Champions League, why would Bale be in a rush to quit? The only reason now is that the script has been altered following Zidane’s bombshell.
And if the power-brokers behind the scenes have decided that the Welshman will be the pawn in a game to land Mbappe, then that’s what will happen.
Race
They can see neither money nor motivation is in short supply in the Premier League. And Zidane’s confirmation that Bale could be the fall- guy should ring in Mourinho’s ears like a starterpistol. The race is getting underway and Mourinho, should be at the front of the queue. Given the utterances from the Bernabeu it might be in Bale’s best interests to go where he is really wanted.
Where there is a bit of room for another Special One a t Old Trafford.