Defending Premier League champions Manchester United had reportedly made a world-record 100 million-pound bid for Welsh star Gareth Bale in order to hijack his move from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid.
According to the Mirror, Bale had also flown from Spain to hold talks with United officials, who had earlier made a 60 million-pound offer for Bale, before opting to move to Madrid for 'only' 86 million pounds.
The report mentioned that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has publicly confirmed that another club came in for Bale during their negotiations in August.
Stating that they originally respected Tottenham's decision not to sell Bale, Perez said that they made their offer when they found out about the previous United bid, although he added that Bale opted for Real as it was his childhood dream to play for the Spanish giants.
Perez also claimed that Bale was a bargain purchase despite his world record transfer fee, adding that the signing of Bale is the model of Real.
Perez also said that all the great signings of Real have been cheap.
United boss David Moyes' only signing after succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford was his former Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini, in the final minutes of the summer transfer window, the report added.
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