Manchester United lodged a bid of £100m to sign Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer, according to a report.
The Mirror claims that the Premier League champions made the offer in order to land a marquee signing in manager David Moyes's first season in charge at Old Trafford.
The report goes on to state that winger Bale even flew back to England from Spain to hold talks with United officials before eventually signing a deal with the Spanish giants.
Madrid president Florentino Perez revealed on Tuesday that United had made an offer to Spurs before them and that is what forced Los Blancos to lodge their bid.
Madrid are reported to have paid Tottenham a world-record transfer fee of £86m for 24-year-old Bale.
