Jose ready to make move for Bale

MANCHESTER UNITED manager Jose Mourinho laid down the gauntlet to this morning’s UEFA Super Cup opponents Real Madrid by expressing his desire to bring Gareth Bale to Old Trafford.

Speaking to reporters in the Macedonian capital of Skopje yesterday, Mourinho said he would wait to see what Bale’s role for Real in this morning’s match would be before deciding whether the Welshman was worth pursuing.

“If he plays it is because he is in the plans of the coach and the club, and it is in his own plans and ambitions to stay there. Then I won’t even think about it,” said Mourinho of the 28-year-old.

“If he is not in the club’s plans and it is true that a player like Bale is at the departure gate, I will try to be there waiting for him at the other side.

“But if he plays tomorrow it is the clearest signal that he is staying there.”

Bale has been linked with a move away from the Santiago Bernabeu as Real are among the clubs fighting to sign Monaco forward Kylian Mbappe.

However, Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane instead preferred to focus on Bale’s improved physical condition when asked to respond to Mourinho’s comments.

“The important thing is that the player is well. He has had continuity training with us. The end of last season was not easy for him. He was out for almost four months, but now he is fine,” Zidane said.

“What matters to us is not what another coach says, but what he does for us.”

Mourinho took a swipe at UEFA’s anti-doping personnel after defender Phil Jones was suspended after United’s Europa League final win over Ajax at the end of last season.

“The only thing I hope is that the team that wins, if some team wants to celebrate, a player wants to get his medal, enjoy with his teammates, I just expect that the doping committee sends somebody with him and doesn’t close him in a room and forbid the guy to enjoy a special moment.”

Jones was given a two-game suspension for insulting an official and was fined € 5,000 (RM25,000) after staying on the pitch to celebrate his team’s win rather than going straight to a doping control. – AFP