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Gareth Bale has confirmed that Manchester United tried hard to sign the winger from Tottenham in 2013, yet Bale always favoured a move to Real Madrid. The forward explained that personal preference and a prior understanding with Daniel Levy guided the final decision.

According to Bale, Manchester United put forward a major financial package and even proposed including a player in the deal. Discussions never reached the contract stage, though, as Bale was already committed to Madrid and did not explore potential wage terms with United.

Bale said Daniel Levy wanted to avoid strengthening a domestic rival, which made a Premier League switch difficult. Instead, there was an informal agreement that allowed Bale to leave for a club in Spain, Italy or Germany if Tottenham missed Champions League qualification, which happened that season.

“I spoke with [then United manager] David Moyes, but my heart was set on Madrid anyway, Bale said on theStick To Footballpodcast. And I had something in place with Daniel Levy, more of a gentleman’s agreement. Because he didn’t want to sell me to a rival. So if a team did come in from Spain, Italy, wherever, Germany, wherever it may be that I could potentially go because if we didn’t qualify for Champions League, which we didn’t, I was then able to go there. So we had that gentleman’s agreement even though he made it very tough.”

“I think I chose the right one [based on the] last 12 years. I didn’t go down the wages route with United. I didn’t get that far. They offered more money to buy me, and a player [too], but it didn’t really get any legs to be honest no.”

Bale finally joined Real Madrid from Tottenham in 2013 for a fee of 85.3 million ($113.86m). The Wales international played 258 matches, scored 106 goals, and collected three LaLiga titles. Bale also helped Los Blancos lift the Champions League trophy five times during that period.

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