Gareth Bale's Move from Real Madrid to Manchester United Isn't a Mere Pipe Dream

On the face of it, things are pretty sweet for Gareth Bale at Real Madrid.

After his first season in Spain following his world-record move from Tottenham Hotspur, Bale helped his side to La Decima, the fabled 10th Champions League crown that had become an obsession in the Spanish capital in recent years.

Add to that scoring an impressive 22 goals, including an extraordinary winner in the Copa del Rey final, and it all adds up to paint a picture of a man doing very well for himself, thank you.

However, there are rumours of discontent in the Real camp, from what sounds ostensibly like a rather trivial incident in their recent 2-1 defeat to Valencia, their first defeat since September and one that ended their winning run of 22 matches.

With the score at 1-1, Bale chose to go towards goal on his own rather than pass to the unmarked Karim Benzema, something that apparently displeased both the Frenchman and Cristiano Ronaldo.

J.I Garcia-Ochoa wrote in Marca:

"

The Real Madrid dressing room have not yet forgiven Gareth Bale for his monumental miss at Mestalla and are still angry with the Welshman.
[…]
Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema both made their feelings very clear to him out on the pitch. Both the Portuguese and the Frenchman berated the Welshman for going it alone and at several points in the game appeared to talk amongst themselves about Bale's selfish decision. Their gestures, which were caught by 'Cuatro' TV's cameras, left no room for doubt.

"

Judge for yourself by viewing the incident here, and while this does on the face of it appear to be a run-of-the-mill on-pitch disagreement, it has fuelled rumours that Bale could leave Real at some point in the near future, with this the latest incident in a number that have displeased his team-mates.

According to Jack Wilson in the Daily Star, the egos at Real are fragile enough for an incident like this to force the Welshman out, with Manchester United apparently keen on signing Bale should he become available.

One might wonder why Bale would want to leave Madrid when he is a central part of such a star-studded team, but there could be a few reasons for him wanting to swap Spain for England.

Firstly and most obviously, if there really is such discontent in the Real camp because of one piece of selfish play, is it really healthy to play in such an atmosphere? Who knows what could set off the gossamer-thin sensibilities of the new breed of Galacticos if a simple decision to shoot when he should have passed did the job?

If the egos are fragile in the Real side, Bale's place could be as well. President Florentino Perez's signing policy bears little resemblance to logic and more to star power, so if it is decided that Bale's face no longer fits, then who knows which upcoming superstar Perez could splash out on to replace him.

Take Angel Di Maria, for example. Bale's arrival seemingly pushed him way down the Real pecking order, but the Argentinian recovered to carve out a new place in the side and was arguably their best player in the second half of last season.

However, when the opportunity to sign James Rodriguez arose, Di Maria was pushed out, with little regard to his ability, form or balance of the side.

That could just as easily happen to Bale, and he would be far from the first player to leave Real because of internal politics.

Clint Hughes/Associated Press

Also, it's not exactly as if Manchester United would be a colossal step down from Real. Of course, they are in a rebuilding process at the moment, but Louis van Gaal's side have shown enough to suggest that more successful times are ahead, so imagine what they would be like with Bale in the side as well.

Emotional factors shouldn't be discounted, too. While Manchester is not exactly round the corner from Bale's home town of Cardiff, it's rather closer than Madrid.

Bale has a two-year-old child, so the possibility that he would want that child to be raised and educated closer to home should not be discounted either.

Gareth Bale leaving Real Madrid for Manchester United in the near future is undoubtedly a long shot, but there are enough potential reasons to still make it a possibility.