In yet another twist to the Gareth Bale transfer saga, it now appears that French champions Paris-Saint Germain have entered the race with Real Madrid and Manchester United to lure the Welsh forward from Tottenham Hotspur.
So far this summer, it has been Real Madrid that have made all the running, with both club president Florentino Perez and sporting director Zinedine Zidane making public declarations about their admiration for the Spurs forward, who hit 31 goals for club and country last term.
And with rumours of interest from Manchester United continually surfacing, it was thought that there were only two realistic destinations for Bale this summer if his transfer from White Hart Lane is sanctioned.
But it now appears that PSG, who have also purportedly asked about the availability of Bale’s manager Andre Villas-Boas in the wake of Madrid’s interest in Carlo Ancelotti, are now preparing to join the race for the PFA Player of the Year.
Reports this morning suggest that the big-spending Ligue 1 winners, bankrolled by Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the 39-year-old representative of the Qatari royal family, are preparing a world-record £85 million bid for the former Southampton star.
But those reports haven’t moved the bookies at bwin too much – they make it a 33/1 chance that Bale will be lining up for PSG next season.
Instead, Real Madrid are still the favourites to be Bale’s next club this summer, with bwin chalking up a move to the Bernabeu as a 6/5 chance, while Manchester United, who have retained a long-standing interest in the player, are 7/1.
Manchester City are 11/1, with Champions League winners Bayern Munich 18/1 and Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea 20/1.
It is 33/1 bar any of those clubs, while bwin go 3/5 that Bale is still at Tottenham on September 1st.
