5 players Manchester United could target this summer
By Liam Bekker
Gareth Bale
With the club struggling to get the best out of Alexis Sanchez, signing another aging, injury-prone and overpaid player is probably the last thing United should do. Gareth Bale is no ordinary player, though, and even with his increasingly apparent physical limitations, he remains one of the world’s foremost players.
Bale played a starring role in Real Madrid’s successes over the last six seasons, scoring the match-winner in two of Madrid’s four Champions League triumphs and netting over 100 goals during his stay with the club. Despite this, the Welshman has never found favor with the club’s board or supporters and now finds himself on the periphery.
That’s good news for United who are in need of a world-class attacking player. The likes of Sanchez, Anthony Martial and Romelu Lukaku all failed to perform as required and Solskjaer will be in need of a senior player to step up and lead the club’s charge next season.
Bale is unlikely to come cheap as Madrid will try to recoup a sizable portion of the then-record fee they paid for him in 2013. This presents a risk for United, particularly given that the player will be 30 in July and has a history of being injury-prone.
It remains to be seen whether the club will consider the former Tottenham star a risk worth taking but one thing is certain: When fit, Bale is a world-class player up for the challenge — and what bigger challenge than getting United back into title contention.