Sky Sports football expert Guillem Balague is ‘convinced’ that Real Madrid will part ways with long-term Manchester United Gareth Bale during the upcoming transfer window.
The Wales international had been of interest to Jose Mourinho last summer, but the deal never materialised after Zinedine Zidane maintained his stance of not selling the attacker.
Since then, the Welshman has continued to sustain a couple of injuries, and this has limited his playing time with Marco Asensio propping up the pecking order at the Capital outfit.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Balague believes the European champions will sell the £90million star to pursue new additions. He added that Tottenham Hotspur may not compete to re-acquire his signature, given they are unlikely to be able to match the financial package for the left-sided attacker.
He said: “I am convinced Real Madrid want to sell Gareth Bale. That is not Bale’s preferred choice, he would like to stay. Obviously somebody will have to buy Bale but I don’t think it will be Spurs; it doesn’t make sense for him to go back and it would cost Spurs too much to bring him back.”
With Los Blancos seemingly prepared to make multiple changes to their squad, and any move from United to sign Bale would turn out to be a simplified process. However, Mourinho has stressed that he does not wish to reinforce the forward department during the summer, and any deal may depend on the future of Anthony Martial.
Martial has been linked with a surprise switch to Juventus in recent weeks, but the prospect of selling a talented 22-year-old for an injury-plagued forward – entering the twilight of his career – may not go well with the club’s faithful.
It’s only good news for Man Utd if Spurs or Everton or Accrington Stanley buy him.