5 stars who seem destined for the Premier League this summer

#5 Gareth Bale

Gareth Bale's time at Real Madrid could be up this summer

Considered one of the Premier League’s greatest ever players during his time at Tottenham – in which he inspired Spurs to their first Champions League appearances and won the Player of the Year award in 2010/11 and 2012/13 – you’d have to be a fool to claim that Gareth Bale hasn’t been a hit at Real Madrid. Since moving there in the summer of 2013 he’s won La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Champions League on three occasions.

Unfortunately for the flying Welshman, despite all his success and manager Zinedine Zidane recently claiming there’s no problem with him at the club, it feels more and more like Bale’s time at the Bernabeu is likely up. His playing time has been restricted over the last two seasons due to injuries and to Zidane preferring other players – obviously being at Real he has plenty to choose from – and he’s never quite matched the form he showed in his first two seasons there.

If a move back to the Premier League is likely to happen, then, it’ll probably be in this summer’s transfer window. Bale won’t command the kind of hefty transfer fee he did when Madrid signed him back in 2013, but he’ll probably still cost well over £50m for any potential suitor. That kind of fee likely rules out his old club Tottenham – who have been said to be keeping tabs on him – so who else is in the running?

Current rumours suggest Chelsea have already put together a bid of £51m for Bale, but the Welshman may be the subject of a bidding war if Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United also want to bring him home. Quite where he’d fit in at Old Trafford given they just signed Alexis Sanchez is anyone’s guess, but United’s recent transfer history suggests that’s his most likely destination.

Regardless, a move back to the Premier League for the Welshman almost seems a formality at this stage.