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United offered Gareth Bale more money than Real Madrid before he joined the Spanish giants from Tottenham, according to his agent.

Bale signed for Real in a world-record £85m transfer last year as United secured Marouane Fellaini during a farcical deadline day.

Tottenham encouraged United to bid for Bale throughout the summer, having received nearly £50m from the Reds for Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov, yet Bale was intent on a move to the Spanish capital.

"He always wanted to play for Madrid," Bale's agent Jonathan Barnett told AS.

"He could have gone to United and other clubs, but he wanted to go to Madrid."

When asked if United offered Bale a bigger wage than Real, Barnett replied: "Not much more, but more.

"I know that at one time Barcelona were also interested in him, but he said he did not want to go there. There were two agents who called me."

Former United manager David Moyes confirmed United's pursuit of Bale in August.

"It's been well documented that we wanted (Cesc) Fabregas, Bale and (Cristiano) Ronaldo," he said.

"There was talk of Ronaldo when I first arrived. We were close to getting a couple of major names."

United were interested in Bale when he was at Southampton in 2007, however the Welshman opted to join Tottenham instead.