Bale transfer plans mean it's curtains for van Persie and Di Maria

Manchester United will off-load Robin van Persie and Angel Di Maria this summer - to make way for the marquee signing of Gareth Bale.

United are preparing to ditch Van Persie and last summer's £59.7million British-record signing Di Maria to shave a massive £500,000-a-week off their wage bill, enabling them to land Bale from Real Madrid.

Bale remains the Old Trafford giants’ top transfer target this summer, and they believe a deal can be struck to land the former Tottenham star and bring him back to the Premier League after two years in Spain.

Central to United’s hopes of securing the Welshman will be getting rid of striker Van Persie and winger Di Maria, both of whom are on £250,000-a-week.

They have received sufficient encouragement to move for Bale this summer, having lost out on him in 2013 when he decided to join Real from Spurs for a world-record fee of £85m.

Bale has endured a tough second season at Real and become a scapegoat for the team’s failings, with fans venting their anger at him as Carlo Ancelotti’s side - who won the European Cup and Spanish Cup last year - face the prospect of ending this campaign empty-handed.

A series of missed chances in Real’s Champions League semi-final defeat to Juventus added weight to the belief Bale, who is understood to have had trouble settling in the Spanish capital, will be on his way this summer.

Bernabeu president Florentino Perez is set to act upon those frustrations by putting Bale up for sale, with United at the head of the queue to land the 25-year-old superstar.

Despite Bale’s turbulent second term in Spain, Real will be looking to recoup as much of their outlay on him as they can, with United likely to have to pay up to £80m to land him.

That is within United’s means, given their world record £750m kit deal with Adidas is about to kick in, but they will need to free up money from their existing wage bill to afford Bale’s demands.