Manchester United have a free run at Gareth Bale after previously failing to sign him on two separate occasions.
The Welshman announced that he has left the Spanish giants as his contract expires following their Champions League victory over Liverpool. That was the fifth time Madrid have been named European champions with Bale at the club after a trophy-laden nine years at the Bernabeu.
It remains to be seen what is next for Bale, with claims he could give up club football altogether and focus on international football with Wales, who are one game away from going to the World Cup at the end of the year. It's inevitable that he will be linked with United given their two previous attempts at signing him.
The Red Devils initially tried to snap up a 17-year-old Bale but he ended up joining Tottenham. According to The Athletic, United were a serious option for Bale as Sir Alex Ferguson's men offered him a higher wage than Tottenham.
Bale decided to join Spurs, however, as he was looking for regular minutes in the first team and Ryan Giggs was already established at United, which would have hindered his game time. The Welshman's agent Jonathan Barnett said: "We turned down offers for bigger money because money at that stage was not that important. It's his career path, and the best opportunity, that matters.
"And that's what we do with every player. Money will come. I have the utmost respect for Mino [Raiola] in this regard, where he puts his players and how he plans. He's a genius. And that's the truth."
Barnett also spoke about the importance of ensuring players make moves at the "right time", adding: "There's a right time for a move. And there's a wrong time. And when you're a young agent, you don't always realise it.
"I had a young player, going back a long time, who was playing for a medium-sized team and a very big club came in for him. I had a phone call from the coach and he said, 'Jonathan, listen he's a great talent but he needs at least another year, he's not ready'.
"And I didn't listen because I thought I knew it all. The boy wanted to go. I made it happen. And that boy failed miserably at that club.
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"He went on to have a good career but he didn't reach the heights he should have. That has always been in my mind because I know now he should have stayed the extra year."
United made a second attempt to sign Bale when Madrid sent him out on loan in September 2020 after a falling out with Zinedine Zidane but, once again, Spurs got in their way as he choose a return to north London.
It could be third time lucky for the Red Devils with Bale now a free agent but it seems like Erik ten Hag is taking the club in a different direction as he starts his rebuild this summer.
