"I spoke with David Moyes, but my heart was set on Madrid anyway. And I had something in place with Daniel Levy, more of a gentleman's agreement just to be like ... Because he didn't want to sell me to a rival also ... 'We don't want to strengthen another team.' 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."
"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 went on to lift a staggering five Champions League titles and three LaLigas in his nine-year stint there, scoring 106 goals in 258 appearances."
Gareth Bale revealed that Manchester United made a higher financial offer than Real Madrid when he transferred from Tottenham in 2013 for £85.3 million. However, Bale's heart was set on joining Madrid, and he had negotiated a gentleman's agreement with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy allowing him to leave for a foreign club if they failed to qualify for the Champions League. Bale chose Madrid over United's superior offer, which included additional money and a player. During his nine-year tenure at Real Madrid, Bale achieved remarkable success, winning five Champions League titles and three LaLiga championships while scoring 106 goals in 258 appearances. He later returned to Tottenham on loan before permanently leaving Madrid in 2022.
Read at ESPN.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]