JOSE MOURINHO is pleading with his Manchester United bosses to make a £100million offer for Gareth Bale. Despite Mourinho publicly declaring “game over” in his pursuit of the Welshman after Tuesday’s 2-1 Uefa Super Cup defeat to Real Madrid in Skopje, the United boss privately feels an agreement can still be reached. Mourinho has asked supremo Ed Woodward to fund the deal after the background checks were made. The Portuguese has been told the Welsh wizard could be available if the La Liga giants are given time to bring in a replacement for him in the next couple of weeks. And Mourinho is convinced a £500,000-a-week contract will tempt Bale back from his spell with the reigning Champions League holders. Bale appeared to dismiss the thought of him leaving Real this summer, even if the Spanish superclub lands Monaco’s £160m-rated Kylian Mbappe. He insisted: “I’m happy to fight for my place. We’re all fighting for our places anyway. “It’s nothing new in football, it happens at every club, you just carry on like normal. “Everything has gone as normal like it has every year, there’s been the normal speculation like there is every year.” But the numbers are now being discussed inside United before a formal offer is made. The Old Trafford chief knows there is money to spend on Bale but with such a huge sum involved — over £200m if Bale gets a four-year contract — it sparked top-level talks yesterday. Woodward got Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s wages off the payroll in the summer and brought in Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic on less. Even if a deal is possible, Mourinho would have to convince Bale to take a step down in class from the European champions to a side that looked a pale imitation of contenders in Macedonia. Bale added: “United are getting there. By bringing Mourinho in, it’s kind of boosted the club. “Winning a few trophies last year did them great and I think they’re getting back to where they belong. “So I can see no reason why they wouldn’t be a force in the Champions League this season.” But even Mourinho himself admits United do not measure up to Real at the moment. The gulf in class was obvious as the Red Devils were given a lesson by Zinedine Zidane’s Euro kings. United have barely featured in the Champions League for the last three seasons and a large chasm has now opened up. The sight of them hoofing long balls up to Marouane Fellaini in a bid to salvage the game late on will have dismayed some of their fans. But Mourinho insists they will get back to the top. The Portuguese added: “Manchester United are one of the top three football clubs in the world, no doubt about it. “But the club is one thing and the team’s credentials are another thing entirely. “We have a giant on our chest, which is really heavy, but we don’t compare our potential to the biggest clubs in Europe right now. “We’ll take it step by step and be humble. “Because United is a real giant, it doesn’t matter if the club is somewhat far away from that level for three, four, five or ten years. “It doesn’t matter — the club will always be a giant. “But our job is to try to bring the football club back to that stature. That’s really difficult these days. “Before, the giants were the powerful ones economically, and now there are small clubs in terms of prestige and history, who are giants economically. “That changes absolutely everything. I want the team to be on a par with the club’s history. “Playing in the Super Cup against the European champions, it’s like we’re back at that level. This is where we want to be.”
From The Sun
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