Former Manchester United manager David Moyes has revealed that the Premier League giants had offered even more money than Real Madrid for Gareth Bale.
Los Blancos broke the world record transfer fee for Gareth Bale when they snapped him up from Spurs for a reported €100 million in 2013. This record has recently been broken once again, as the Red Devils paid Juventus €120 million for Frenchman Paul Pogba.
It now seems that United were willing to do the same for Bale back then. Current Sunderland manager David Moyes was in charge at Old Trafford, and had made the Welshman his top target. However, the move was scrapped when it became clear that Bale only wanted to move to Madrid.
“When I first went in my real target was Bale,” said the Scotsman, according to Goal.
“I felt all along that Bale was a Manchester United player. I fought right until the last minute. We actually offered a bigger deal than Real Madrid. But Gareth had his mind made up on going to Real Madrid. That was, in my mind, the player I really wanted to bring to Manchester United.”
Bale is now well settled at the Santiago Bernabeu, recently signing a new contract with the club that runs till 2022. The 27-year-old has long been one of Manchester United’s top transfer targets, but it looks like it will always be a case of ‘what if?’
The Welshman would have been one of the biggest superstars in the side, especially if they had signed him in 2013. Instead David Moyes and United ended up with Marouane Fellaini, who is definitely not on the same level as Bale.
Gareth Bale would have been an automatic starter on the right wing for the Red Devils, and perhaps would have done enough to maintain the legacy that has been falling apart since he left the Premier League.
Imagine a front three of Bale, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Anthony Martial, the perfect mix of experience, form and potential. The past, present and future coming together for United to form a feared strike force.
In reality though, United have Jesse Lingard at right-wing and are not participating in the UEFA Champions League this season, while Bale has already conquered Europe twice with Los Blancos.
