Bengaluru, May 31: Manchester United are prepared to pay £122 million to bring Real Madrid's Champions League hero Gareth Bale back to the Premier League, according to reports in England. The Red Devils have a long-standing interest in the Welsh wizard and in fact, they had to lose out on him once when he opted to join Real Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur a few years back.

Since then, the Welshman has experienced quite a number of ups and downs in his career but right now, he is at the zenith of his powers and his reputation is back to where it belonged after his double strike against Liverpool in the Champions League final.

The 28-year-old came off the bench to score a sensational overhead kick and a speculative long-range effort spilled by Loris Karius as Real clinched a 13th European Cup.

But after the game, Bale said he needs to be playing regular football, which has not been the case this season at the Bernabeu, and will sit down with his agent to discuss his future.

The Red Devils look to be the frontrunners in capturing the Welshman as they look to sign a winger, according to Spanish outlet AS.

The Old Trafford club would pay Real Madrid £122 million, which would shatter the current British record of £89 million United paid for Paul Pogba in 2016, and Bale would receive a net salary of £26.2 million, triple of what he earns at Real Madrid as per the report.

That high salary demand could put off a potential return to Tottenham, who are also reported to be interested in the signature of their former talisman.

Bale left White Hart Lane for a then-world record fee of £85 million in 2013 but the chance to go back to north London may be on the cards if the winger is prepared to take a pay cut.

Bayern Munich also want to take Bale and will hope his signature could help them to a first Champions League since 2013 but they also cannot afford to pay the wage Bale demands.

Bayern spent a Bundesliga record €41.5 million to bring Corentin Tolisso to the Allianz Arena last summer but would have to treble that record to have any chance of capturing Bale. And since they are not willing to spend that much it means Manchester United do not have much competition for the Welsh wizard.