Gareth Bale has explained how his £85million transfer to Real Madrid played out and why he rejected Manchester United
07:45, 05 Mar 2026Updated 07:59, 05 Mar 2026
Gareth Bale speaks on Manchester United’s interest in him before his move to Real Madrid(Image: Stick to Football podcast)
Gareth Bale has confirmed that Manchester United submitted a higher bid to Tottenham to sign him in 2013 prior to his then-world record move to Real Madrid. The ex-attacker moved to Spain for £85million.
The Welshman was one of the most wanted attackers in world football at the end of the 2012/13 season after netting 26 goals in 44 games for Spurs. Bale was wanted by United, who were under new management with David Moyes, and Madrid, signing a six-year contract at the Santiago Bernabeu in September.
Nearly 13 years since his mega-money move to Spain, Bale has revealed how United showed serious interest in him and why he never moved to Old Trafford. Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, the 36-year-old said: “United and Madrid were the two teams [who were interested].
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“I did talk to United, yeah. They actually bid more than Madrid.” Asked if he was never going to sign for United, he replied: “No.”
He added: “I spoke with David Moyes. Not [Ed Woodward], maybe my agent did. My heart was set on Madrid. I had something in place with Daniel Levy, maybe more of a gentleman’s agreement, because he didn’t want to sell me to a rival.
Gareth Bale was one of the best attackers in football in the summer of 2013(Image: 2012 Getty Images)
“So if a team did come in from Spain, Italy or wherever, I could potentially go because if we didn’t qualify for the Champions League, which we didn’t, I was then able to go there. We had that gentleman’s agreement, even though he made it very tough.”
Gary Neville then pushed for more details on why Bale rejected a move to United at the time, asking if the club had offered a better salary. At the time, it was widely reported that he had agreed a £300,000-per-week wage at Spain.
However, Bale conceded he never got to the stage of discussing his contract with United. “I didn’t go down the wages route,” he said. “They offered more money to buy me, but it didn’t really gey any legs.”
Gareth Bale won five Champions League’s with Real Madrid(Image: Getty Images)
Moyes, who left the club after eight months, has since revealed that United wanted to sign Bale and Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona that summer. Instead, Marouane Fellani was brought in from Everton for £27.5m.
“It’s been well documented that we wanted Cesc Fabregas, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo,” Moyes said in 2014. “There was talk of Ronaldo when I first arrived. We were close to getting a couple of major names.”
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