Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez ‘regrets’ not selling Gareth Bale to Manchester United in 2018.
That’s according to Defensa Central, who say United offered €100m to sign Bale that summer but were met with rejection by Pérez.
It’s explained that the Real Madrid president is ‘very concerned’ with everything related to the Welshman, who currently finds himself on loan at Tottenham until the end of the season.
That loan has not gone well so far, and Bale is set to return to the Bernabeu in the summer as Tottenham look unlikely to make the move permanent.
That’s an issue for the Spanish giants, with Bale on huge wages at the club but not part of Zinedine Zidane’s plans and essentially public enemy number one as far as the fans are concerned.
Madrid would prefer a clean break in the summer but are unlikely to find any buyers given Bale’s wages, and this has seemingly led to Pérez regretting his decision to turn down Manchester United.
DC state that the Real president ‘looks back and remembers’ when Manchester United offered him €100m for Bale in 2018, just after the Champions League final in Kiev.
On that occasion, Pérez elected to block the move as Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane had both announced their departures already, and he ‘could not afford’ to let another star escape.
That decision has ‘not been the best’ in the long run, with Bale’s injury issues, attitude and relationship with Zidane all making him the fulcrum of a very toxic relationship and leaving Pérez with a ‘thorn’ in his side ever since.
