Manchester United were ready to pay £100m for Gareth Bale this past summer, but their move for the former Spurs star didn’t even get off the ground because the Welshman was adamant that he wanted to join Real Madrid.
Bale joined Real Madrid for £85m and his since carried on the impressive form that saw him shoot to stardom at White Hart Lane. Seen as the heir to Ryan Giggs’ throne, Bale was frequently linked with a move to Old Trafford but it failed to materialise when Real Madrid came knocking.
But The Telegraph have revealed that United were ready to try pip the Spanish outfit to Bale’s signature, and incredibly were even willing to take Emmanuel Adebayor as part of the deal.
In a piece on Andre Villas Boas’ failed stint at White Hart Lane, Jason Burt claimed:
“Spurs held talks with Manchester United, who were willing to pay £100?million and might also have taken Adebayor, but Bale was adamant that he only wanted to go to Madrid.”
Whilst the Adebayor claim is hard to believe given United’s attacking options, Burt’s article is in line with other reports as well as David Moyes’ own utterances.
Given the club’s willingness to spend that amount on Bale, you question the reluctance to put in a head turning bid for Cesc Fabregas.
It also provides a ray of optimism, the club are willing to spend and spend big and with the team’s current problems opens the door to big bids not only in January but also next summer.
Total non-story, instigated by United in the knowledge that Daniel Levy has vowed to NEVER sell to United ever again after the last minute purchase of Berbatov and underhand tactics to push this through.
Whatever
I’m not sure it does send the right message:
1 Fergie hasn’t been given that kind of money in years, probably since the massive outlay of hargreaves, Anderson, Nani and Tevez summer. The club seemed to be appeasing fans with a massive transfer budget in response to Moyes’ appointment, as some kind of olive branch to the fans
2 it shows a complete stink of desperation to be afforded a whopper budget like that and have free reign. The idea that they were willing to spend a an exorbitant amount of money on one player like Bale or Ronaldo is not only massively irresponsible, it’s also completely stupid given the strengthening that’s required throughout the whole squad.