Man United will offer £65m plus David De Gea to land Gareth Bale

Despite interest in Thomas Muller and Neymar, Bale remains his No.1 target and landing him would be a huge coup.

Now it has emerged United bosses plan to offer Real Madrid target De Gea as bait.

A club source told Starsport: "This would be the perfect deal for the club.

"It would cost them a lot of money but Gareth Bale is one of the world's biggest stars, while goalkeeper De Gea has made it clear he wants to leave.

"It would suit all parties but there is not much time left and deals like these tend to take weeks because of everything involved. But United remain determined to bring in a big, big name before the window closes."

Bale is not desperate to leave Real despite his recent difficulties there, but has told friends if he returned to the Premier League, United would be his preferred destination.

United would be willing to hand Bale a long-term deal worth £300,000-a-week to make him the club's top earner alongside captain and talisman Wayne Rooney.

United are willing to drop their valuation of De Gea to £25m despite the Spaniard entering the final 12 months of his contract.

Chief executive Ed Woodward hopes that - plus another £65m for Bale - could persuade Real president Florentino Perez to strike a deal.

Van Gaal has refused to pick De Gea in his squad this season and he remains desperate to join the Spanish giants.

Perez has been keen to keep Bale at the Bernabeu, but could be willing to change his mind if it means landing De Gea.

United goalkeeping legend Peter Schmeichel has branded United's handling of De Gea as "an absolute joke".

"I would not hold anything against him if he moves on, but I want the situation resolved because it's an absolute joke that it has carried on into the season," he said.

"I want to know - is he with us or someone else? And if he is with someone else I want the manager to have the opportunity to go out and buy another goalkeeper."

(dailystar.co.uk)