Mourinho Admits It's 'Game Over' for Manchester United's Pursuit of Gareth Bale
Manchester United's pursuit of Gareth Bale is "over" after Jose Mourinho admitted there is no chance of his club signing the Wales superstar.
Media reports have begun to grow of a potential switch to Old Trafford for the Real Madrid forward after Mourinho revealed his intent to "fight" for Bale's signature if he became available for transfer.
However, in quotes published by Sky Sports after United's 2-1 UEFA Super Cup defeat to Los Blancos, Mourinho explained why he was pulling the plug on any interest in prising Bale from the Santiago Bernabeu.
He lamented: "Clearly the club wants him, the manager wants him and he wants the club, so for me it's game over - even before it started.
"It's game over clearly because everybody knows he is going to stay."
Bale himself revealed that he was not giving any thought to the rumours about his future with Real Madrid after the match and stated his concentration was solely on getting match fit for the start of the season.
He said: "I am just concentrating on my football. I am not listening to anything, I don't read anything, obviously I get told bits and bobs.
"I am enjoying my football here, I am playing as much as I can and I'm winning trophies so that's all I am concentrating on.
"I haven't had any conversations (with Madrid), I am just concentrating on my football, I'm trying to get my fitness up as much as I can after pretty much not playing regularly for eight or nine months.
"It is great to keep adding to the (medal) collection, it was a very difficult game but we got the job done and we've got another trophy and we move on."
Mourinho had responded to gossip about perceived interest in Bale ahead of the match in Skopje by revealing that he would "fight with other coaches" for the ex-Tottenham ace.
However, the Red Devils boss placated those comments when he also insisted that, if Bale started against United on Wednesday, it would be a sure fire indication that he was going nowhere.
As it was, Bale played 74 minutes of the contest before being substituted by Real manager Zinedine Zidane.
