Gareth Bale: Manchester United still want the Real Madrid superstar

It's a public knowledge that Manchester United have a long-standing interest in Gareth Bale. The Welsh superstar has been a player they fancy since his Tottenham Hotspur days. 

In fact, the Red Devils made a similar offer for the Welshman back in the summer of 2013 but the player wanted a move to Real Madrid. Bale's then world record transfer to the Spanish capital club has been a bitter-sweet one. 

He has been an integral member of the Los Blancos, especially in their European triumphs. However, he could never become a fan favourite and has struggled with injuries on a regular basis. 

It's a known fact that Real Madrid want to get rid of the highly-paid superstar for quite some time but it's not easy to find suitors for such an injury-prone player, who will command big wages. 

Manchester United are one of the very few clubs who can actually afford to sign Bale and it is reported that they are yet to shelve their interest in the superstar winger. Reports in England claim that they still want to sign the superstar but there is a catch. 

Bale's injury history is the thing they are worried about and they will only offer the winger a pay-as-you-play deal. They have even hired a private investigator to gain an insight on the Welshman. 

Bale has sat out over 50 games in the past three years and Manchester United are in no position to show the luxury to sign such a player who might miss half the games. 

However, they still believe in the quality of the Welshman and believe that he could still improve their struggling side by some distance. Bale is on a £650,000-a-week deal at the Santiago Bernabeu and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side are ready to match that. 

But, they want to ensure that any deal with the superstar will involve the clause of pay-as-you-play. It will certainly lessen the risks. 

The Red Devils must ensure that a deal for Bale does not end up like the blunder they made in January, 2018 signing Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal. 

Sanchez's move to Manchester United saw him bag a wage of £550,000-a-week and we all know how poorly it worked out. Manchester United are going through their worse phase in many years and they need to build a strong team to overcome that.  

But, signing superstar players who are beyond their peak as short-term solution is not the ideal solution. Rather, their priority should be to build a strong team for the future with the focus on younger talents like James Maddison, Jadon Sancho etc.