San Lorenzo's Walter Kanneman fights for the ball with Real Madrid's Gareth Bale during their Club World Cup final soccer match at the Marrakech stadium, December 20, 2014.
San Lorenzo's Walter Kanneman fights for the ball with Real Madrid's Gareth Bale during their Club World Cup final soccer match at the Marrakech stadium, December 20, 2014. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez in no uncertain terms has categorically stated that their prized asset Gareth Bale is staying at the club. This comes after a section of the media claimed that new Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal had wanted to get the Welshman back to England.

"Just as I can't imagine Real Madrid without Cristiano Rolando, I can't imagine Real without Bale either", is what he had to say before going on to clarify that Real have not received any offer from Manchester United or any other club for the services of Gareth Bale.

Bale had joined Real Madrid as a 24 year old winger from Tottenham Hotspurs for a mindboggling sum of AU $ 170 M (£ 85.3 M) as a transfer fee. He has already won four cups in the one and a half years that he is at the club. He has already won the Copa del Rey, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. He has also scored in the final of the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. To add to that Real Madrid are in pole position to win the La Liga this year.

Bale had previously played six full seasons with the North London club Tottenham Hotspurs where he scored 55 goals in 203 appearances for them. He had joined the North London club from the much acclaimed Southampton youth academy where he played two seasons for the senior team scoring 5 goals in 45 appearances for them.

It will be really surprising if Manchester United continue to pursue Bale as they already have a very formidable attacking line up. What is more probable is that Louis van Gaal going in the market to reinforce the defensive side of his team.

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