Gareth Bale leaving Real Madrid for Manchester United could happen. I just get a feeling that somebody over here is driving that move. It keeps coming up and it wouldn’t surprise me, given he’s never truly settled there and can’t speak the language very well.

Gareth is very much a home boy in my experience. And it would be great to have him back in England because he is such a fantastic player, capable of anything, who gets people up off their seats.

English football has lost a few of those to Spain in recent years and La Liga has so many of the world’s top stars, our League would be better for it if he came back.

If he went to United this month, they would suddenly have a realistic chance of winning the title because he could go there and score 15 goals in the second half of the season. There aren’t many players in the world who can have that kind of impact but Gareth is one of them.

Manchester United vs Swansea - player ratings 11 show all Manchester United vs Swansea - player ratings 1/11 David De Gea: 6 Coped with most of what Swansea had to offer, could not be said to be at fault for the goal. Denied Williams with a great save late on. 2/11 Ashey Young: 7 Constantly offered something different as an attack-minded full-back. Delivered a superb cross for the opener, the home side’s best performer. 3/11 Phil Jones: 6 Will be disappointed to have come off at half-time with an injury after coming back into the side. Rarely troubled in the first-half. 4/11 Chris Smalling: 6 Not his usual assertive self but, in the early stages especially, did not need to be. 5/11 Daley Blind: 7 Took command alongside Smalling after switching to the centre of the park, overshadowing his defensive partner somewhat. 6/11 Morgan Schneiderlin: 7 A solid presence in the middle of the park and probably the key man if United are to turn their form around. 7/11 Bastian Schweinsteiger: 6 Started off-the-pace but, to his credit, gradually grew into the game. 8/11 Juan Mata: 6 The Spaniard should have opened the scoring in the first half when clear in the box but his shot was weak and straight at Fabianski. 9/11 Ander Herrera: 5 Neat in possession but failed to take this chance to solidify a place in the starting line-up. 10/11 Anthony Martial: 8 His struggles in the first half were eclipsed by his goal and dynamic presence in the second. Looked like the player he did last September. 11/11 Wayne Rooney: 7 Improved of late and made a lively start today. Looked to be lacking sharpness early on but took his goal brilliantly. 1/11 David De Gea: 6 Coped with most of what Swansea had to offer, could not be said to be at fault for the goal. Denied Williams with a great save late on. 2/11 Ashey Young: 7 Constantly offered something different as an attack-minded full-back. Delivered a superb cross for the opener, the home side’s best performer. 3/11 Phil Jones: 6 Will be disappointed to have come off at half-time with an injury after coming back into the side. Rarely troubled in the first-half. 4/11 Chris Smalling: 6 Not his usual assertive self but, in the early stages especially, did not need to be. 5/11 Daley Blind: 7 Took command alongside Smalling after switching to the centre of the park, overshadowing his defensive partner somewhat. 6/11 Morgan Schneiderlin: 7 A solid presence in the middle of the park and probably the key man if United are to turn their form around. 7/11 Bastian Schweinsteiger: 6 Started off-the-pace but, to his credit, gradually grew into the game. 8/11 Juan Mata: 6 The Spaniard should have opened the scoring in the first half when clear in the box but his shot was weak and straight at Fabianski. 9/11 Ander Herrera: 5 Neat in possession but failed to take this chance to solidify a place in the starting line-up. 10/11 Anthony Martial: 8 His struggles in the first half were eclipsed by his goal and dynamic presence in the second. Looked like the player he did last September. 11/11 Wayne Rooney: 7 Improved of late and made a lively start today. Looked to be lacking sharpness early on but took his goal brilliantly.

United, Chelsea and Manchester City would all take him in a heartbeat I’m sure. I don’t know if he will come back but the United move makes a lot of sense — and all that talk has to be coming from somewhere.

Best of luck, Zidane, but what makes you the Real deal?

Good luck to Zinedine Zidane but every manager at Real Madrid is on a hiding to nothing.

What’s he really going to change? He’s isn’t going to coach Cristiano Ronaldo or Gareth Bale. He just has to keep them happy and let the best players play.

People are saying Zidane will immediately command respect because of his playing career but that doesn’t always last long. And was Zidane better than Ronaldo? I don’t think so. Bale is up there, Luka Modric is top draw as well.

I’m not saying either of those were better than Zidane but they are established top-class internationals in their own right.And in any case, what does he have to win to be a success?

They have won only three La Liga titles in 12 years, so that would be a start, but the holy grail there is the Champions League and I can’t see them winning that.

Barcelona and Bayern Munich are better teams. With Pep Guardiola announcing his intention to leave Bayern, that tips the scales in Barca’s favour.

Zidane was a phenomenal player but that doesn’t always translate into being a good manager, far from it. I guess we are all about to find out.