Manchester United should be putting all their efforts into signing Gareth Bale from Real Madrid, according to former Old Trafford winger Gordon Hill.

The ex-Spurs man became the most expensive player in the history of the beautiful game when he joined Los Blancos in a deal worth around £86m in 2013, and has enjoyed a fine spell in Spain so far.

However, despite helping the club to a 10th European Cup in his debut campaign, fans turned on the Wales international for a period last season, criticising his performances in what was a poor run of form for the Madrid giants.

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Although he’s stayed put, United have been once again linked with Bale of late, and Hill believes that his old side should be going all out to lure the flying attacker back to the Premier League and that they should have signed him instead of Angel di Maria last year:

“On the left hand side he would be a phenomenal signing, but what price do you pay?” he told Retro United.

“He’s rarely injured, he’s tremendously fit, and has so much talent. When you hear of the money we are looking to pay for some players, I don’t understand why Bale hasn’t been the number one target, and why he wasn’t first choice when we brought in Di Maria in the first place.”

Hill went on to claim that Bale should not worry about being considered a La Liga failure if he leaves Real:

“Gareth might not want to be seen as a failure in Spain but I don’t think that he would be if he left,

“He has had some stick but I think he’s done a great job over in La Liga. He’s suffered abuse from Spanish fans who don’t like him and it’s been unfair. I’ve seen a few Madrid games where he has been isolated and almost frozen out of games by their own players but he’s done as well as he could be expected to.”