Gareth Bale will not leave Real Madrid for Manchester United

Asked if it was a fair assumption that Bale would not be going anywhere soon the message was: ‘correct, and you can leave out the word "soon”’.

Bale joined Real Madrid last summer to win trophies. In just over 12 months he has won the Spanish Cup, the Champions League, the European Super Cup and the World Club Cup. 

In three of those four games he scored a crucial goal and in the other he fulfilled a dream by winning a major honour in his home city, Cardiff. For Bale the move has been a massive success and he is not about get off the trophy train after only one and a half seasons.

He had the chance to join Manchester United the summer before last. Their offer came very late but was greater than Real Madrid’s and Bale could still have pulled the plug on the Spain switch and move to Old Trafford, but he chose to go ahead with the transfer to the Spanish capital and there is no desire to change course now.

Neither is there any desire to move Bale on from Real Madrid president Florentino Perez. When Bale scored Real Madrid’s second goal against San Lorenzo last weekend to ensure his team won the World Club Cup club president Perez could be seen calling out ‘Bale!’ as he celebrated high in the Stade de Marrakech.

When Perez spent £86m (100m euros) on Bale last summer he was criticized for replacing the popular Mesut Ozil and that criticism intensified when Bale struggled with injury and Marca’s front page declared he was suffering from a slipped disc that would need surgery. 

His gamble has been completely justified however and he is not about to let United take the player in January having beaten them to the punch less than two seasons ago.

Carlo Ancelotti and assistant coach Paul Clement would also be in complete opposition to the move. When I asked Clement about the variety of Real Madrid’s attacking options he told me last month: ‘It’s a nice position to be in. With Bale the dynamic of the team is different. It breaks quicker. It looks to penetrate in behind more.’ 

Bale is a major reason why Real are now so unstoppable. They have the players to pass their way through teams but Bale gives them a more direct route to goal.

With the player, the manager and the president all against any move it is difficult to see how United could prise him away from the Bernabeu. Their greatest hope could be that poll that revealed 54 per cent of supporters in favour of a sale at £120m.

(dailymail.co.uk)