Gareth Bale Transfer Link Underlines How Far Manchester United Have Come

When David Moyes talked about Manchester United's interest in Gareth Bale, ahead of the Welshman's move from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid, his messaging was typically unclear.

When asked in August 2013 about potential interest in Bale, Moyes said, per Sky Sports: 

"

I said at the start that Manchester United will always be interested in the best players and we'll always be looking to try and improve the team.

The owners have given me every opportunity to get who I want so we'll continue to look for those players. It's been tough in this window but we're always looking at the best players

"

He almost immediately then denied United had made a bid, per Sky Sports again.

Following his departure from United, Moyes confirmed that the club had, in fact, attempted to sign Bale, according to a report by Matt Lawton for the Mail on Sunday in August 2014. 

The matter of "Bale to United" was raised again this week by John Richardson of the Sunday Express, who wrote that Bale had "given the green light to a high profile return to the Premier League with Manchester United in the summer." 

Whether or not this comes to pass, it certainly feels a lot more believable—from United's side at least—than it did in 2013.

The signing of Angel Di Maria and loan acquisition of Radamel Falcao have dramatically changed expectations concerning United's transfer activities.

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Richardson's article claims "the club’s owners the Glazers want to go down the Galacticos route to increase United’s value with an eventual asking price of £3 billion if they eventually decide to sell."

Whether this is entirely accurate in terms of the owners' plans or not, it is certainly the case that United's summer spending seemed to indicate a change in approach.

From an entirely subjective perspective, my own response to hearing that the Bale rumour had resurfaced was considerably less sceptical than when the link was made during Moyes' tenure.

While it may be hard to intuit why Bale himself would wish to move on from Madrid, the thought of him choosing United as his destination seems less fanciful than it would once have done. The Richardson article claims "the prospect of a return to this country at the end of the season appeals to him and his family."

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Whether United actually need Bale or not is a different matter. Given the plethora of attacking talent available, investing what would no doubt need to be a very significant sum into yet another superstar forward will not help deal with the apparent lack of balance in Louis van Gaal's squad.

However, Bale, like Di Maria and Falcao is in the category of players whose abilities are such that issues of squad balance become secondary when considering their purchase. Bale's dynamism, pace, skill and strength mean he can have a huge bearing on a team's performance regardless of how well it is playing as a whole.

His performances for Wales have often shown that, as did the latter part of his career with Tottenham. In 2011/12 he began to show signs of his quality, scoring nine goals and providing 10 assists in the league. In 2012/13, his breakthrough season, he scored 21 goals, almost a third of Spurs' 66 goals for the season.

He has continued to score goals and provide assists in Spain, and has done so in big games, too, looking very comfortable at the top level of European football.

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Like any transfer rumour, assessing the likelihood of this deal coming to fruition is close to impossible. However, for United fans, that it does not feel totally implausible is enough to demonstrate a substantial change to the prior status quo.