Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs says he could see his former side challenging for the Champions League title if they signed Gareth Bale from Real Madrid.
The Daily Star claim the thirteen-time Premier League winner reckons the current United squad are just short of competition-winning squad and that Bale could make all the difference.
The former Tottenham man struggled to nail down a first team spot last year in a season plagued by injuries and has been asked to be dropped by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Giggs stated:
“You look at the current Manchester United team and you wonder if they can they win the Champions League? “They’re probably a little bit short at the moment.”
He went on to develop his point:
“You’ve got Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku, if he fulfils his potential, Marcus Rashford, David de Gea, a world-class player, and then if you add somebody like Gareth Bale to the mix, that’s when you talk about United having Champions League expectations.”
Club boss Jose Mourinho spent big this transfer window, sealing deals for Lukaku, Nemanja Matic and Victor Lindelof before re-signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic on another one-year deal.
The Red Devil’s host Basel in the Europe’s biggest club competition tonight in the opening match of the group stages after a year’s absence in which time they won the Europa League. They will be without Phil Jones and Eric Bailly after remain suspended.
Last time the two teams met back in 2011, United fell to a shock 2-1 defeat.
They last won the Champions League back in 2008, beating Chelsea on penalties after drawing 1-1 with the Blues in normal time.
United have since reached two Champions League finals in 2009 and 2011, but lost both times to Barcelona.