Real Madrid Hoping to Lure De Gea by Offering Bale in Exchange
Here we go again. New reports in Spain claim Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane and president Florentino Perez are looking to sell Gareth Bale to Manchester United in order to bring David De Gea to Santiago Bernabeu.
Jose Mourinho has been a long-time admirer of the Welshman, and although Zidane has backed the former Tottenham man on numerous occasions, he recently admitted "anything could happen" this summer regarding plans for the future. The ever-reliable Don Balon are now pedalling that these deals are not yet dead - and even that they're interlinked.
After a stand-out Euro 2016 campaign with Wales, expectations were high for Bale going into the 2016-17 La Liga season. However, the 28-year-old's season was injury-filled and as a result only managed 19 La Liga appearances.
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De Gea was on the verge of joining Madrid in 2015, however the deal fell through in the final minutes of the transfer deadline. Whilst he has constantly reiterated he is happy at United, reports linking him to Madrid have been continuous.
Wales Online also reported that a recent poll of Madrid fans revealed more than 70% would be open to the idea of selling Bale after failing to make a real impact in the side.
De Gea isn't the only superstar Madrid are chasing this summer, with reports also linking the Spanish giants to young French sensation Kylian Mbappe.
The 18-year-old caught the eyes of many of Europe's top clubs after a very impressive end to the season with Monaco in their last campaign, and has been linked with a move away from Monaco ever since the transfer window opened. If they were to sign Mbappe, Madrid would likely need to offload one of their players to pave the way for that deal to go through.
With bitter rivals Barcelona recently losing one of their best players in Neymar to PSG, Madrid will be looking to capitalise by strengthening their squad further ahead of the new season, and in order to do so may decide to sacrifice Bale.
