Could We Sign Gareth Bale And Should We Sign Him?

Could We Sign Gareth Bale And Should We Sign Him?

Manchester United are enduring an “interesting” season to say the least and many people think that the club needs to sign some serious talent in this winter transfer window 2016 or at the very least the summer window of 2016. The glaring weakness in the United side seems to be strikers or at least the goal-scoring department with Wayne Rooney having scored only 11 goals in all competitions (with 3 coming for England) and Anthony Martial having scored only 8 goals in all competitions.

Clearly United do need goals and the name being tossed around by numerous media outlets is Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale. These rumours are nothing new as Gareth Bale has been mentioned in reference to United for many transfer windows now. The difference now is that Bale is according to some reports unhappy that Rafa Benitez has been replaced by Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane and the Welshman is concerned that he is not going to be used in the same as he was being used by the former Liverpool boss despite assurances from Zidane that he will continue to be treated in the same way.

Gareth Bale had been used predominantly through the middle by Benitez so far this season to great effect. Bale has scored 9 goals for Real so far this campaign and has 7 goals in his past 6 games alone. It was of course Andre Villas-Boas who started using Bale through the middle in his last season at Tottenham after the player had previously been used as a left back but moreso as a left winger. It was Villas-Boas who moved Bale to the centre of the attack and essentially gave him a free role which transformed the Welshman from a really good player to a world class great player. In that year of 2012-2013 playing for Tottenham under Villas-Boas, Bale excelled in his central free role scoring 21 goals in 33 Premier League appearances and carried the Tottenham side on his back for the entire season. It was this extraordinary season of 2012-2013 which saw him named the Professional Football Association’s player and young player of the year and subsequently led to his world record transfer to Real Madrid for £85.3million.


From United’s point of view it seems unlikely Bale would want to leave Madrid in this window as they are still in the Champions League and while not in pole position in La Liga- sitting in 3rd currently – they are still very much in touch with their cross-town rivals who are leading and Barca who lie 2nd. Also factor in the football being played at Old Trafford this year and it hardly seems like the kind of system the Welsh attacker would flourish in.

Certainly Bale would bring excitement, goals and a genuine world-class star footballer in his prime to United but whether a charm offensive from Ed Woodward and Louis Van Gaal can clinch the deal remains extremely unlikely. The asking fee from Real Madrid for Bale no matter how big is unlikely to pose a problem particularly if the David De Gea move is resurrected as a part of the deal.

So the only hope for United is that Bale does not get along with Zidane (which seems highly unlikely) and that the Welshman desperately wants to play for Manchester United – an ambition we are yet to hear him declare.

There is no doubt United should sign Gareth Bale if they can but whether they could sign him is a question which is very much up in the air.