Gareth Bale to Manchester United: Louis van Gaal willing to break the world transfer record to sign Real Madrid winger

Bale faces an uncertain future at Real and with the Spanish club interested in David De Gea, a deal in the summer looks more likely than not

Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale (Getty Images)

Manchester United could be set to lose their star goalkeeper David De Gea to Real Madrid, but fans could yet have something to cheer about in the club’s pursuit of Gareth Bale.

The world’s most expensive player faces an uncertain future in Spain after struggling to back-up his debut season with Real, having come under heavy criticism this term as Real lost out in the La Liga title race to Barcelona on Sunday.

That failure to reclaim the championship crown, plus Real’s elimination to Juventus in the Champions League semi-finals, looks set to bring change at the Bernabeu this summer as manager Carlo Ancelotti is likely to be replaced. But Bale could follow him out of the door, and according to The Sunday Times, United are willing to set a new transfer record in an effort to land the Welshman.

The 25-year-old has scored 15 goals in 46 appearances for Real this season in all competitions, but given his £86m transfer fee from his move from Tottenham in 2013, he has been compared to Cristiano Ronaldo and his stats simply do not match up.

Bale and Ronaldo celebrate the latter scoring against Espanyol (Getty Images)

Given Ronaldo looks certain to beat Lionel Messi in their battle to claim the top goalscorers award in this season’s La Liga, the fans have turned on Bale and have taken to booing him when he does not pass to his Portuguese team-mate – one fan was even pictured attacking Bale’s car as he left the club’s training ground earlier this season.

And further doubts were raised over his future when his failure to learn the Spanish language fluently was revealed, plus the fact that his girlfriend and daughter still live in Britain, strengthening talk of a move back to the premier League.

But with United already shelling out a reported £23m on PSV Eindhoven’s Memphis Depay, they may struggle to generate the funds needed to pry Bale away from Real. One theory has been to use De Gea – who the Spanish club have made no secret about wanting to sign this summer – while the possible sale of Angel Di Maria remains an option given that the Argentine has struggled to set the world alight since arriving at Old Trafford last summer.

David De Gea is wanted by Real (GETTY IMAGES)

The news that United are willing to break the transfer record to sign Bale would suggest that the latter is an option in order to generate the required funds, and with talk of an official approach growing by the day, it seems Louis van Gaal will at least attempt to sign the former Spurs ace this summer.