Gareth Bale | Real Madrid

For one reason or another, things just don’t seem to be working out for Gareth Bale and Real Madrid. It was all going swimmingly up until the start of his second season – the Welshman could not have enjoyed a better debut campaign with Los Blancos following his £86 million move from Tottenham in the summer of 2013 – but everything feels a little strained and uncomfortable right now. The expectant Real Madrid faithful have never really warmed to Bale – they gave him an unfair amount of stick last season -and it’s fair to assume he will never be the main man at the Bernabeu as long as Cristiano Ronaldo is still there.

Although he has been in top form this season, scoring 11 goals in all competitions and in general, working hard for his team all round, yet, there’s a chance that Ronaldo could leave Real Madrid next summer – the Portuguese star is more likely to end up at Paris Saint-Germain than Old Trafford – but if that doesn’t happen then Manchester United should move heaven and earth to bring the world-class forward back to England.