LVG still wants Bale or Ronaldo

Man United will not be deterred in making future bids for Gareth Bale or Cristiano Ronaldo after the David de Gea saga.

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London - Manchester United will not be deterred in making future bids for Gareth Bale or Cristiano Ronaldo due to the fall-out with Real Madrid over David de Gea.

United and Real swapped statements of blame last week after the proposed transfer of Spanish goalkeeper De Gea to the Bernabeu collapsed because relevant papers were not submitted in time for Spain’s 11pm deadline on Monday.

He is in the final year of his contract at Old Trafford and can sign a lucrative pre-contract agreement with Madrid in January without United receiving a penny.

The clubs have regularly dealt with each other over transfers in recent years, with David Beckham, Gabriel Heinze, Ronaldo and Javier Hernandez moving to Madrid and Angel di Maria arriving in the opposite direction. But United are confident the current dispute will not affect future negotiations and point to the fall-out over Ronaldo as evidence they will still be able to conduct amicable transfers.

Sir Alex Ferguson famously said he would not “sell that lot a virus” when Madrid started to pursue Ronaldo but, 12 months later, the player left for a then world-record fee of £80million.

United are desperate for a “Galactico” to give the club glamour and impetus and Bale and Ronaldo “the two most expensive footballers in history” have been long-term targets.

That ambition to bring at least one of them to Old Trafford will not disappear because of De Gea and United will be at the front of the queue if either gives any indication that they would be interested in leaving the Bernabeu next summer.

United will not consider selling De Gea in January and will let him run down in his contract if he does not sign a new one. The player is extremely unlikely to threaten to go on strike.

Indeed, the 24-year-old is likely to be the biggest winner of the impasse. As Real will no longer have to pay a transfer fee, he could earn an extra £8m over the course of a long-term contract.

And he will not have to include a super-agent like Jose Mendes in future negotiations another potential cost saving.

United, however, might reaffirm their interest in Borussia Dortmund midfielder Marco Reus in January. United have just loaned 20-year-old Adnan Januzaj to the German club.

Daily Mail