Want the latest Scottish sport news sent straight to your inbox? Join thousands of others who have signed up to our Record Sport newsletter. Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Manchester United are preparing to bring Gareth Bale back to the English Premier League and combine the Wales international in a forward line with last season's high-profile attacking signings, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez.

The transfer fee is expected to exceed €100million, while matching Bale's personal terms at Real Madrid will place the 28-year-old on a par with Old Trafford's highest earners.

Madrid's willingness to sell Bale at the correct price has been an open secret for months. Club president Florentino Perez wants to restructure and rejuvenate a squad that has changed little across three consecutive Champions League winning campaigns and has been preparing to move on at least one of Bale, Karim Benezma and Cristiano Ronaldo in this summer's transfer window.

(Image: Getty) (Image: REUTERS)

Man United's attempts to recruit Bale date back at least five years. In the summer of 2013, newly installed executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward offered to better the record fee Madrid agreed with Tottenham Hotspur, only for the player to prefer the move to Spain. Jose Mourinho pursued Bale last summer, hoping the forward would help facilitate club-to-club negotiations. Yet the player again chose Madrid.

What followed was a season in which Zinedine Zidane started Bale in just 23 of Madrid's 51 Liga and Champions League matches. The forward was also regularly targeted for criticism by Spanish media. Bale responded by scoring seven times in his last five appearances - including an outstanding double to secure the European Cup - with the aim of strengthening his hand in the summer market.

According to sources close to the player, Bale has changed his stance on remaining in Madrid and is open to offers from major European clubs. The forward publicly signalled that position in a post-match interview in Kiev when asked about a return to England.

“Obviously, I need to be playing week in, week out, and that hasn't happened this season for one reason or another,” Bale said. "I had about a five-, six-week injury at the start of the season and I've been fit ever since. So obviously now I have to sit down in the summer and discuss it with my agent, and, yeah, we'll take it from there.”

(Image: Getty)

While Zidane's subsequent exit from the Santiago Bernabeu has opened up the possibility of Madrid's new coach convincing Bale to remain, that would require a commitment both of markedly increased playing time and a change of treatment by the club's hierarchy. It understood that Bale's representatives have been more focused on securing a possible way out for a footballer whose salary significantly restricts his options within the European game.

Perez renewed Bale's contract in October 2016, increasing the release clause and inflating the forward's basic after-tax salary to €12m (currently £10.5m). With performance-related bonuses and image rights factored in, the Welshman's deal is said to be worth over £500,000 a week.

Those numbers lie beyond most of Bale's potential suitors with the player thought to be reluctant to accept a significant pay cut at his next club. Although Tottenham hold a contractual option to match any offer Madrid accept for Bale, his current terms represent more than four times the earnings of their best paid footballer, leading scorer Harry Kane. Chairman Daniel Levy – who took more money out of Tottenham than any of the club's playing staff in the 2016-17 financial year – is also under pressure to improve the contracts of a number of key performers.

Bayern Munich hold an interest in Bale, but matching his current financial terms would require the Bundesliga champions to rewrite their own wage scale during a summer in which they are trying to offload a number of senior players. United, in contrast, have regularly demonstrated their willingness to inflate their wage bill for individuals of high commercial value during Woodward's stewardship of the club.

Mourinho entered the transfer window focused on improving his defence and midfield with negotiations advanced on Brazil internationals Fred and Alex Sandro, plus Portugal under-21 right back, Diogo Dalot. Among other targets, he has also been considering a move for West Ham United forward Marko Arnautovic to provide back-up for Lukaku and add height to a squad which may lose Marouane Fellaini under freedom of contract. Bale's availability presents an opportunity to add an elite left-footed forward to United's attack, while simultaneously pleasing the club's marketing department.