Gareth Bale EXCLUSIVE: Chelsea emerge as serious contenders for Real Madrid star
Posted Sunday, August 06, 2017 by Express.co.uk
Gareth Bale is reportedly being sold to make room for Kylian Mbappe
CHELSEA have emerged as serious contenders to Manchester United in the race to lure Gareth Bale away from Real Madrid.
The Welsh superstar could be on his way out of Real, especially if they land French sensation Kylian Mbappe, who is keen to quit Monaco.
Real president Florentino Perez is believed to be willing to do business on Bale, 28, for around £90million which would pay a large chunk of the fee for Mbappe.
He will be the odd man out if Mbappe does head to Real with Karim Benzema set to be offered a new contract in the coming weeks.
Manchester United have a long standing interest in Bale but they are known to prefer to wait until next summer to sign him.
Chelsea have been keeping tabs on Bale's situation at Real all summer with Antonio Conte looking to make four more signings.
The Premier League champions have the financial power to match and improve anything that United put on the table to lure him away from the Spanish capital.
Roman Abramovich has already done business with Real this summer after luring striker Alvaro Morata to Stamford Bridge.
Bale broke the transfer record when Real Madrid paid Tottenham £85.3m, smashing the previous record set by Real when they paid £80m for Cristiano Ronaldo.
During his time at Real, he has won the Champions League three times as well as La Liga last season.
Monaco vice president Vadim Vasilyev has admitted Mbappe is likely to leave the French club this season to better his own career.
"Mbappe will make the right decision," he said.
"He has never expressed a wish to leave us. We are, however, in conversation with him and contrary to what you may have seen in the press, it is not simply a case of money.
"It's more complicated than that. The player needs to move for the sake of sporting reasons."
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