According to the latest reports, the Premier League giants can sign Real Madrid star winger Gareth Bale in the upcoming summer transfer window for a transfer fee of just £5m. Los Blancos could prepare a similar deal for James Rodriguez, who is currently on loan at Bayern Munich, and the Red Devils would have to pay only £5m for Bale each season on a loan deal.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has turned fortunes around at Manchester United ever since taking the reins as caretaker back in December. The Norwegian inherited a squad that was in shambles after Jose Mourinho somewhat ruined the atmosphere at Old Trafford during the early few stages of the season. After Manchester United decided to part ways with Mourinho, Solskjaer came in and revitalized the whole club.
The 46-year-old strung together a bunch of positive results in the Premier League and helped United compete for a top-four spot in England’s top flight. Solskjaer also aided United to the quarterfinals of the Champions League in dramatic fashion after making a comeback against Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint Germain, trailing 2-0 to go on and win 3-1 at the Parc des Princes.
This run of impressive outings in his early days as United manager gave Solskjaer the job on a permanent basis. Results have not gone smoothly ever since and United have not had the rub of the green. La Liga giants Barcelona sent the English outfit crashing out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals after a humiliating 4-0 thrashing on aggregate over two legs. United’s top four hopes also suffered a massive blow when Everton hammered the visitors 4-0 at Goodison Park on Sunday.
Solskjaer is well aware that he needs to make summer signings that will help the club’s morale and also boost their efficiency. One player who has been linked with a move to Old Trafford for a while now has been Welsh superstar winger Gareth Bale. The 29-year-old joined Real Madrid back in 2013 and has helped the La Liga club win four Champions League titles in five seasons.
However, Bale has not been able to fill in the boots for Cristiano Ronaldo as the Portuguese winger departed the Spanish capital last summer. Bale has come across heavy criticism from the Madrid faithful and has received boos and jeers whenever on the pitch with his own section of supporters.
On Sunday, Bale came on as a substitute in a 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao and finally raised his hand in acknowledgment of the boos he was constantly receiving from the Madrid fans. Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane is also not a fan of Bale and could allow him to leave the Santiago Bernabeu but hardly any clubs could match his transfer fee.
Madrid are planning a similar deal they once used for James Rodriguez. Madrid are planning on using Bale as a player on loan for an exchange of £5m a year and Manchester United are on red alert regarding the attacker’s situation.
It will be interesting to see what the Red Devils’ board now has in mind for their summer plans and whether or not things work out.