United reluctant to gamble on ailing Bale
MANCHESTER UNITED are being scared off a move for Gareth Bale – because his injury record makes it a huge gamble.
Old Trafford boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and United’s hierarchy rate the 30-year-old Welshman highly.
And some fans would like the club to take a risk on the Real Madrid star and bring him in during the January transfer window to give the squad a huge boost after his problems at The Bernabeu.
But having been burned by the disastrous signing of Alexis Sanchez, executive vicechairman Ed Woodward is believed to be wary of making another big-money mistake.
United have gambled in the past on top players with injury issues – most notably England midfielder Owen Hargreaves and more recently Colombian striker Radamel Falcao.
There is a perception at United that
Bale’s litany of injuries have made the Welsh international more cautious about playing if he’s not completely fit.
And in their current predicament they need headline, experienced names who offer not just quality but reliability too – and that’s the concern with Bale.
In six and a half seasons since his £85million move from Tottenham to La Liga he’s played only 194 games for Real Madrid – an average of 30 games a season.
In that time Bale has missed 75 matches for the Spanish giants through injury amounting to 325 days – almost a year – out, with calf and ankle problems the most frequent recurring issues.
It’s that worrying record that seems to have prevented United taking their interest any further. The other is the “cultural reboot” being implemented by Solskjaer that doesn’t cater for expensive, ageing stars – especially with injury issues.
Bale has missed Madrid’s last two matches with a calf problem after earning Wales a draw with Croatia in his last outing a fortnight ago in the Euro 2020 qualifiers.
The Welshman looked to be on his way out of Madrid in the summer after he had agreed to join Chinese Super League side Jiangsu Suning in a deal worth almost £1million-week. But the move was blocked by Madrid at the 11th hour with president Florentino Perez refusing to allow Bale to leave for nothing and demanding a transfer fee from the Chinese club.
The Welshman’s current market value in the industry is quoted as £54million. With wages of at least £500,000-a-week on top, the outlay for United would exceed their spend on Sanchez. It is understood United would look more closely at a pay-as-you play deal and a nominal transfer fee, but as one club insider revealed, that would be easier to negotiate than Brexit.
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER insists that Manchester United don’t need Harry Kane when they’ve got Anthony Martial.
The United boss has been urged to break the bank for Tottenham talisman Kane by Old Trafford legend Roy Keane.
But Solskjaer believes that Martial can be the natural goalscorer his team have been missing after taking the decision to ditch Romelu Lukaku and hand back United’s No.9 shirt to the £45million Frenchman.
Martial scored United’s winner in Thursday night’s Europa League victory at Partizan Belgrade, after an eightweek absence with a hamstring injury.
Attack
And now Solskjaer is backing him to become the leader of the attack.
He said: “Now Anthony is back I am quite happy with the options I have in attack.
“I’ve heard what some people have said about us being short of a genuine No. 9, but Anthony has absolutely everything in his locker to take that role.
“He can be a target man, he’s quick, he’s technical – and one of the reasons he wanted to stay here was because I told him I saw him as a central striker.
I don’t think people outside the club realise how good this lad is.
“But the players in the dressing room know. When we are talking about how we are going to score goals, they say, ‘We will just give the ball to Anthony.’
“He has the confidence of his team-mates and his manager because we see him every day in training.
“What I’ve now got to do is set the team up to get the best out of him, but I think he will improve by just staying fit and playing more games.”
Lukaku was sold to Inter Milan in the summer despite scoring 41 goals in two seasons at Old Trafford.
And Alexis Sanchez was allowed to join the Belgian on loan at the San Siro after f ai l i ng to j ustify his £500,000-a-week wages.
Assassin
United chiefs felt the pair were becoming a disruptive dressing room influence after losing their places in Solskjaer’s team last season.
The United boss made a clear statement of intent by handing Martial the No.9 shirt that had been stripped from him by Jose Mourinho following the £75million purchase of Lukaku.
Solskjaer feels the 23-year-old paid the price for being used as a winger by Mourinho and Louis van Gaal.
And he insists Martial can be his s miling assassin after being misunderstood as a misery-guts during his time in Manchester.