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Manchester United may have been dealt a fatal blow in their pursuit of Gareth Bale.

The Old Trafford giants were red-hot favourites to land the Wales international, after his fall-outs with Real Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo and the club’s manager Zinedine Zidane .

But after Zidane sensationally quit on Thursday, just days after completing a Champions League treble in just his third year as a manager, Bale now looks certain to stay at the Bernabeu.

The world-class forward admitted after their weekend win over Liverpool in Kiev, where he began on the bench but proved the match-winner with two goals off the bench, that he had grown sick of being overlooked for the starting XI because of Ronaldo’s influence.

(Image: AFP/Getty) (Image: Reuters)

He was angry and upset that Zidane sided with the Portuguese, even though the 33-year-old superstar has shown indifferent form for months and is clearly coming to the end of his time at the summit of world football.

It is understood Zidane quit because he refused a request from club president Florentino Perez to consider phasing Ronaldo out and instead give Bale – the younger man by over four years – a chance to claim a place in the starting line up once more.

(Image: Getty) (Image: AFP)

The politics at the Spanish giants have always been a struggle for Bale, but it looks now as though he has won this particular war.

Perez will appoint a manager with the mission to plan for the future, and look at moving the club on from Ronaldo’s reign.

That will see Real Madrid bid for Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar this summer, and the new coach try to persuade Bale to stay by offering him a chance to play more regularly... which will be possible if Ronaldo leaves instead.

Real Madrid may entertain a swap deal with PSG for Neymar with Ronaldo going in the other direction, which would remove the influence which has kept the former Spurs star out of the team.

If United are thwarted in their bid for Bale, their second choice seems to be West Ham's Marko Arnautovic.

Manager Jose Mourinho watched him play for Austria against Russia on Wednesday.