Sir Alex Ferguson: Manchester United failed with Gareth Bale transfer bid

Posted Sunday, January 16, 2011 by Metro.co.uk

Gareth Bale could have become a Manchester United player, but Southampton rejected their transfer bid, Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed.

The Spurs midfielder has shot to international prominence with his Champions League performances this season, but was already a hot property in English football when he was a teenager at Southampton.

A number of Premier League clubs were rumoured to be interested in Bale before he moved to Tottenham in 2007, in a deal that could eventually be worth £10 million.

Ferguson has now admitted Manchester United were one of the sides keen to land the Welshman.

Speaking ahead of United's trip to Spurs on Sunday, the veteran boss said: 'We tried to sign him as a 17-year-old boy. They [Southampton] had a Scottish chief executive and George Burley was the manager and they didn't accept our offer.

'I think they must have alerted Tottenham. I don't know the full circumstances. We made a good offer but they turned it down.'

Ferguson, who has been linked with a summer move for the 21-year-old, added that while Rafael van der Vaart has enjoyed a fine start to his career in England, Bale has made the 'best contribution' for Spurs this season.