It’s not too hard to get the impression Florentino Perez had it all worked out a few months ago.
He’d start negotiations with Manchester United to sign Paul Pogba, throw in Gareth Bale and wait for Ed Woodward to bite. The Spanish media were pushing the Welshman to Old Trafford for months, it all made sense to them.
Woodward wouldn’t be able to resist his own Galactico, even if it meant sending a current star to Spain.
The former Tottenham player would be worth around €100m, and Perez would say ‘Gracias’ before sniggering behind Woodward’s back and burning Bale’s medical records.
It hasn’t quite worked out, Manchester United aren’t playing ball and Bale himself has repeatedly made it clear, via his agent, that he doesn’t want to go anywhere.
The Spanish newspaper then states: ‘Starting from the basis that Bale does not want to move from Madrid, if in the end he had to leave, the United option is the one that most convinces him.’
It’s a wonder how they’d know this, given Bale has been so reluctant to even consider a sale, and his agent isn’t going around talking up moves elsewhere, quite the opposite.
Desperation could be leading Marca to delusion, and a need to cling on to an idea they still believe is the ‘ideal situation’.
