Manchester United legend Gary Neville has urged his former club to use Real Madrid's eagerness to sign keeper David De Gea to their advantage as they weigh up a summer move for Gareth Bale.
United boss Louis van Gaal confirmed on Sunday that De Gea was close to making a decision on his future, with his current United deal set to expire in the summer of 2016 and Real Madrid persistently linked with a summer move for the 24-year-old.
If De Gea is on his way to the Spanish capital, Neville believes Bale should come to Manchester just two years after Real Madrid paid a world record £86 million to sign the Welshman.
"Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool will all want Gareth Bale," Neville said. "So if you are going to give Real a player I think it would make sense to try and get Bale and steal him in return for De Gea.
"Once a player only has a year left on his contract Manchester United have a decision to make if Real do come for him, as it looks like they will.
"He's been Manchester United's player of the season and they [the fans] will be saying, please stay. With his form this season I was always hopeful he'd stay but with the wave of noise in the press it just looked to have an inevitability about it."
Meanwhile, Neville has backed United's club-record signing Angel Di Maria to come good at Old Trafford, even though the Argentine winger has struggled in his first season at the club following his £59.7 million move from Real Madrid last summer.
"It will be interesting to see what happens with Angel Di Maria," he continued. "Actually, I believe in Di Maria as a player. We've watched him a lot for Real Madrid and you could see his level of performance was outstanding.
"That's not happened this season and you're thinking Ashley Young has done better this season, [Maraoune] Fellaini's been better, [Juan] Mata's done better.
"United do need wide players. Ashley Young has had a fantastic season but, as much as he's done well out there in recent months, Mata isn't a wide right player."
Neville also suggested expectations should not be too high around United's first major signing of the summer, Dutch winger Memphis Depay.
"I think Depay looks like an exciting player but there's a lot of obstacles to overcome to determine as to whether he going to become the real deal," he added.
"He's got to settle in the country and get used to playing football in Manchester. It will be different but it fits the bill in terms of him being a young player."
"It's a typical Manchester United signing to sign someone who has got potential but hasn't yet grown to become the finished product. United have done that over the years, particularly with foreign players."