The persistent rumors of Gareth Bale departing Real Madrid added a new wrinkle on Thursday. According to the Daily Mirror (via Goal Transfer Talk), Manchester United are desperate to land the Welshman this summer and are preparing to sell both Angel Di Maria and Robin van Persie.
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Per the report, the decision will shave roughly £500,000 in weekly wages. The club, however, must first meet Madrid's asking price of at least £80 million.
Fueling the rumor mill was Bale's subpar performance in the second leg of the Champions League semifinal, a performance that's led to harsh criticism according to Crystal Palace midfielder and Wales teammate Joe Ledley.
"Last year, what he achieved was unbelievable," Ledley said (via ESPN FC). "Champions League winner and you can't write a script for what he did. This season, everyone's getting on his back and he's still got 15-odd goals and eight assists. I would take that all day, anyone would."
"People just want more and more, and for me he's just brilliant," he added. "A team like Real Madrid are lucky to have a player like Gareth."
Like Ledley, manager Carlo Ancelotti quickly came to the defense of his player.
"We lost it in the first game," Ancelotti said (via ESPN FC). "We were not lucky. We had good control, but were not lucky to score another goal. We had a lot of opportunities to score the second. Bale played better [than the first leg]. He worked hard. We did our best, but it was not enough to reach the final."
Real Madrid return to the pitch on Sunday, visiting Espanyol at the Estadi Cornella-El Prat.
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