Manchester United are reportedly considering some transfer alternatives to Jadon Sancho, but Gareth Bale is in talks over a return to Tottenham.
The Real Madrid and Wales winger had been an option for Man Utd, according to The Athletic, but they claim Bale currently seems more likely to be heading back to Spurs.
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The Athletic add that United are also looking into signing Croatian wide-man Ivan Perisic as an alternative to Sancho.
The 31-year-old had a decent season on loan at Bayern Munich last term, playing his part in the Bavarian giants’ Champions League victory.
Still, Perisic does not look set to be staying at Bayern permanently and is now back with parent club Inter Milan, though perhaps we’ll soon be seeing him at Old Trafford.
United fans would surely rather the club were able to land Sancho, but if the deal proves tricky then Perisic could be a decent Plan B option.
The experienced winger has won plenty of big trophies throughout his career and also played a key role in Croatia reaching their first ever World Cup final, where he scored in his country’s 4-2 defeat to France in 2018.
Bale could also have been a fine signing for United, but it may be that that is now off the table, even though former Red Devils star Luke Chadwick recently told CaughtOffside he still felt he could have a positive impact at the club.
“I think Bale would certainly give a buzz around the place,” Chadwick said. “He’s obviously had a tough few years and not played the amount of football he would have hoped, but in terms of the sort of player he is, when you talk about Man United players of the past, he’s someone who would get the crowd excited, get fans off their seats.”
?? "He's a generational talent … he could be in the top two or three players in the world" ?@Luke_FFF has high hopes for this @ManUtd wonderkid! ?https://t.co/3aGuV4MpSd #MUFC
— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) September 16, 2020