Manchester United close to £90m Bale deal... the truth behind reports

ThMetro have a tried and tested plan for getting as many hits of possible out of Gareth Bale and Manchester United. That plan is to read Fichajes, a Spanish transfer rumour website, ignore anything it says which doesn't fit with the programme... and then make a juicy story which has as little grounding in reality as possible. They've done exactly that twice since Friday. 

On Tuesday morning The Metro published an article claiming 'Real Madrid happy to sell Gareth Bale to Manchester United in £90m transfer deal' and went on to say 'Manchester United have moved a step closer to signing Gareth Bale in January after Real Madrid reportedly put the player up for sale.

The main sticking point to any deal has been whether Madrid would want to sell the Welshman, but reports in Spain say they are now happy to do business.'

The Fichajes report in Spain is kindly linked to by The Metro, and it actually says 'According to several British media, United would be willing to put on the table a figure close to €113m for the Cardiff Express, a confirmed offer could be accepted by the Chamartin club (Real Madrid), who would recover their investment, indeed, they'd earn money with this transaction, in addition to solving a tactical problem of the coach.'

Fichajes say Real Madrid could accept a bid, it is their speculation and they don't dress that up as anything else, yet The Metro have turned a gossip website speculating something 'could' happen into 'Real Madrid happy to sell'.

On top of that rather large hurdle, Fichajes also make it clear they got their information from the British press. So which British press was that then? Where has the €113m figure come from? Well, The Metro of course.

The Metro on Friday morning went with the headline 'Manchester United ready to open talks with Real Madrid over Gareth Bale transfer', they went on to say 'Manchester United are confident of signing Gareth Bale from Real Madrid in January with talks set to begin over £90million deal.

'And according to reports in Spain, United are increasingly confident of bringing in Bale and are planning to start talks with Madrid in the coming weeks.

'The fee for the Welshman would likely be about £90million – a new world record – but Red Devils boss Louis van Gaal has been given the green light to spend big again.'

That report in Spain was from - wait for it - Fichajes. They had said 'Mega offer for Bale' which they thought would be around €90m and went on to explain 'Several British media, such as the Daily Star, say United will try to take...blah blah blah'

The Metro dispensed with the idea of currency conversion in favour of simply changing a € to a £, so their €90m turned into £90m then became €113m after Fichajes converted it. The Express also went with The Metro's £90m figure on Friday afternoon. 

Now Fichajes just need to report on The Metro saying Real Madrid have put Gareth Bale up for sale and the Welshman could be in Manchester, disgruntled and desperate, by the end of next week. Right?

The Metro's report has since been picked up by many websites and several newspapers, all using the £90m and €130m figures.

@Sport_Witness