Mourinho ready to make move for Real's Bale
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, August 9, 2017
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Jose Mourinho and Gareth Bale. |
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho laid down the gauntlet to UEFA Super Cup opponent Real Madrid by expressing his desire to bring Gareth Bale to Old Trafford.
Speaking to reporters in the Macedonian capital of Skopje on Monday, Mourinho said he would wait to see what Bale's role for Real in yesterday's match would be before deciding whether the Welshman was worth pursuing.
"If he plays tomorrow it is because he is in the plans of the coach and the club, and it is in his own plans and ambitions to stay there. Then I won't even think about it," Mourinho said of the 28-year-old.
"If he is not in the club's plans and it is true that a player like Bale is at the departure gate, I will try to be there waiting for him at the other side.
"But if he plays tomorrow it is the clearest signal that he is staying there."
Bale moved to the Spanish capital from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013 for a then world-record fee of 100.8 million euros (US$119 million).
However, injuries restricted his involvement during last season's run-in and he was only a substitute in Real's 4-1 UEFA Champions League final win over Juventus in Cardiff.
He has been linked with a move away from the Santiago Bernabeu as Real is among the clubs fighting to sign Monaco forward Kylian Mbappe.
The French teenager has been linked with a 180-million euro transfer although Manchester City is also keen and Paris Saint-Germain is believed to want him to play alongside its world-record recruit Neymar.
However, Real coach Zinedine Zidane instead preferred to focus on Bale's improved physical condition when asked to respond to Mourinho's comments.
"The important thing is that the player is well. He has had continuity training with us. The end of last season was not easy for him. He was out for almost four months, but now he is fine," Zidane said.
"What matters to us is not what another coach says, but what he does for us tomorrow."
United has already splashed out close to 150 million pounds (US$195 million) in this transfer window on three players — Swedish defender Victor Lindelof from Benfica, Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic from Chelsea and Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku from Everton.
Meanwhile, Southampton's in-demand defender Virgil van Dijk has submitted a transfer request, the Netherlands international announced on Monday.
"I am incredibly ambitious and want to achieve as much as I possibly can to fulfil my potential in what is a very short career as a professional footballer," Van Dijk said in a statement released to the media. "I want to play European football again and challenge for major honors and as such I would like Southampton to consider the interest in me from top clubs should it still exist."
Van Dijk, 26, has been linked with Liverpool, Chelsea and City.
Liverpool publicly dropped its interest in signing him earlier in the close season after Southampton threatened to report them to the English Premier League for an illegal approach.
Van Dijk revealed he had been fined two weeks' wages by Southampton and said he would be appealing against the "unjustified" punishment.
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