Real Madrid’s price to start Gareth Bale negotiations not stopping Man United

Pretty steep for a player who was struggling to get into the Real team for much of last season.

After Manchester City topped the Premier League table by a 19 goal margin, Manchester United have a lot of catching up to do. Top of José Mourinho's to do list is completing the signing of Gareth Bale, according to various outlets. The Real Madrid winger demonstrated his quality in the Champions League final with two spectacular goals and spoke after the game of how he needs to be playing regular football. He would get that regular football at Manchester United but Real Madrid don't intend to let him go cheaply, setting an asking price of €150m to start negotiations. Combine that with Bale's sky high wages and you're looking at a total sum of around £349m over the course of a five year contract. Even Manchester United, one of the biggest sporting brands in the world, would struggle to cobble that together. Bale would not solve all of United's problems either - he would likely demand a free role, which could mean having to play through the middle. That could create problems further back in their line-up, given Paul Pogba's preference to play as one of three central midfielders. Alexis Sánchez, who earns similarly high wages to Bale, signed in January on a four-and-a-half year deal. United ought to seriously consider how to invest before committing to paying extortionate payments to both players as they enter their thirties.