Why Would Tottenham Sell Gareth Bale To Manchester United?

It’s understandable that Manchester United want to sign Gareth Bale from Tottenham but why would Daniel Levy sell Spurs’ prize asset to another Premier League club?

Gareth Bale a target for Manchester United [Photo: Jav The_DoC_66]

First it was Real Madrid casting their eyes enviously towards White Hart Lane and declaring an interest in Gareth Bale. Next up was Paris Saint-Germain who decided they wanted Bale along with the Tottenham manager, Andre Villas-Boas. Then in the papers comes the news that Manchester United are looking to acquire the signature of Gareth Bale as a statement of intent for their new manager, David Moyes.

No Sale!

Tottenham have made it clear that Bale is not for sale. They are intent on keeping the player for another season in spite of their failure to make the Champions League. Spurs are planning to strengthen the team with some top signings of whom Paulinho is one, with negotiations at an advanced stage and a decision due at the conclusion of the Confederations Cup in Brazil. The presence of Bale in the team will help Spurs attract new players and he also helps the club to secure the lucrative sponsorship deals which are so important to the club’s financial position. AVB shunned the interest expressed by PSG and was assured by the Chairman that Gareth Bale would not be leaving White Hart Lane this summer. The Daily Mirror reported AVB’s comments to the Portuguese press,

"”The chairman said that we are not open to offers, whatever they are, and that the player will stay. In football anything can happen, but these are the guarantees given to me.”"

The pressure from Real Madrid and PSG will continue through the transfer window with talk of a record breaking fee in excess of £80million. The recent newspaper article, however, reported that Manchester United were confident of completing a deal for around £60million. On what basis is their confidence founded? The need for United to sign a player of Bale’s talent is obvious as they failed to make an impact at the highest level of the Champions League last year.

No to United!

• Daniel Levy will not sanction a sale to another Premier League club. He does not want to see Tottenham’s best players strengthening rivals like Manchester United while weakening the Spurs team and their challenge for a top 4 finish.

A report in the Daily Express last month quoted a Tottenham source on Daniel Levy’s view of selling top players to another English club.

"“Daniel has made it clear ever since the Berbatov deal that he will never again sell a major asset to another English club. After that deal the feeling was, ‘What is the point – why bother bringing these players on if we are just going to sell them?'”"

• United have history with signing Tottenham’s best players. Teddy Sheringham, Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov all moved north to Old Trafford, leaving the Spurs manager to pick up the pieces while United continued to further success.

• Spurs were not happy to lose Carrick but the loss of Berbatov on the final day of the August transfer window in 2008 left Spurs with a severely weakened strike force and relations between the clubs was scarred. The loan deal with Fraizer Campbell coming to White Hart Lane did little to improve Spurs’ position.

United are aware of this situation and have been waiting in the background observing as Real Madrid make the running and the headlines over their desire to sign Bale. They are however anxious to make a marquee signing to boost the position of Moyes in the eyes of supporters. With continued uncertainty over Wayne Rooney’s future at United, Bale is one of a number of players they are interested in, including Cesc Fabregas, Robert Lewandowski and Cristiano Ronaldo. Their concerns over trying to sign Bale was that Levy would be difficult to negotiate with and they would be forced to pay over the odds for him or it could end in stalemate with no agreement reached at a time when it would be too late in August to find an alternative player.

They, however, in a more recent report in the Sunday Express, are more upbeat on signing Bale, believing they have a decent chance of sealing a deal which would be worth around £60m.

What the outcome of this tug-of-war over Gareth Bale will be is unknown. Tottenham have no need to sell, they want Bale to remain at White Hart Lane for at least another season but if faced with a world record fee from Real Madrid, it may be tempting for Tottenham to take the money for further investment in players.

If Daniel Levy were to accept an offer and Bale left Spurs, he would lose a great deal of face if the comments attributed to him are accurate. He held out under pressure from Chelsea in 2011 when they clearly wanted Luka Modric after AVB was appointed manager at Stamford Bridge. The chairman is most likely to take a similar stance against United but an offer from Spain could be different.

Meanwhile, the pressure continues to mount from Real with whom Tottenham have a ‘special partnership’, as it has been reported in the Spanish press that Bale is expected to tell Daniel Levy in a meeting that he wants a move in this transfer window.