Liverpool legend Ian Rush has urged Gareth Bale to ignore any advances from Manchester United and continue his legacy at Real Madrid where he has won three Champions League titles and the La Liga. The Welshman was heavily linked with a move to United this summer after there was speculation that Bale would return to the Premier League as Real look to recoup funds for the world record transfer of Kylian Mbappe from Monaco.

However, the scoop was quashed by his agent who insists that the talk is completely baseless and that the 28-year-old still has a long career at the Santiago Bernabeu. However, Zinedine Zidane offered a ray of hope to United fans when he stated that despite his commitment to keeping his flourishing attack in place, anything could happen before the end of the summer.

However, the move is not recommended by Rush who believes that Bale still has time on his side and should he ever choose to make the switch back to the Premier League, he would have the entire top-six teams to choose from. The forward scored nine goals and assisted three in all competitions last season, in what was an injury plagued campaign for the former Tottenham Hotspur man.

"If he's happy then ­Gareth should stay in Spain, 100 per cent. He has improved as a player. He's got great players like Cristiano Ronaldo to keep ­learning from. There are not many better clubs in the world than Real Madrid," Rush said, as quoted by the Mirror.

"I know that if he decided to come to England he would have the choice of all the top clubs here. Manchester United, ­Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool would all want him. There's always a time and a place to come back but I don't think it should be now. He is still relatively young.

"The Premier League is so tough. There are no games in which you can switch on the cruise control. Real Madrid and Barcelona can rest players in certain games and still win. You can't do that in England so the ­season is a real grind.

"Gareth is able to fine tune his game in Spain. He is rested at times but if he came back to England, say for ­Manchester United, he would be playing week-in, week-out," he added.

Gareth Bale
Gareth Bale is reportedly wanted by Manchester United Getty