Gareth Bale: Tottenham could beat Man Utd to Real Madrid star with first option clause

Tottenham sold Bale to Real Madrid in 2013 for £80m, which at the time was a world record fee.

And, according to the Sun, they included a clause which would see them given 72 hours to match any bid for Bale until 2019.

That would give them the edge in any negotiations if they were able to raise enough to match a bid from United - or Chelsea and PSG who are both also thought to be interested.

Tottenham have yet to open the cheque book this summer but took in £50m from the sale of Kyle Walker.

But they are financing a new stadium making a deal for Bale difficult to see.

Bale’s future at Madrid has come into question with the European champions targeting a move for teen sensation Kylian Mbappe.

A move for the Monaco ace would cost in the region of £140m and would mean Madrid would need to sell one of their front three.

And Bale looks to be the fall guy with Zinedine Zidane favouring Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema over him.

Last night Jose Mourinho admitted he was interested in signing Bale at Manchester United if Zidane was willing to sell, but he has started tonight's Super Cup.

Paul Scholes thinks the Monaco star holds the cards to Bale’s future.

He said on BT Sport: “I think Mbappe is key to it. I think if they had to let one of the three go I think it would be Bale.

“The lad has got amazing talent, we know that, what a brilliant physique. He’s quick, he’s strong, he can head the ball, a great left foot and he should be up there with Ronaldo but the reason he isn’t at the moment is the lad can’t stay fit.

“I can’t remember the last time he played a full season. He misses so much football it’s untrue.

“You think of Ronaldo, you think of Messi, they play every week. They’ve played every week for the last 10 years. They don’t miss games and if Gareth is going to get to that level he just needs to stay fit.”