Sergio Ramos Marcelo Gareth Bale Karim Benzema Real Madrid
Sergio Ramos has been added to the wishlist of Manchester United alongside Gareth BaleReuters

Manchester United are not ready to stop at Gareth Bale in their bid to raid Real Madrid, with Louis Van Gaal also looking to make moves for defenders Sergio Ramos and Fabio Coentrao.

Reports from Spain have suggested Manchester United are ready to pay as much as £120 million for Bale next summer, with reports coming out of the UK now claiming the former Tottenham man has given the green light for a switch back to the English Premier League, where he lit up White Hart Lane with his wonderful performances.

If Manchester United manage to pull off this major transfer coup, then the transfer record will be broken again with Real Madrid currently holding that privilege when they paid £86 million to Spurs for Bale in 2013.

Joining Bale at Manchester United from Real Madrid could be Ramos, who has recently been heavily linked with a move away from the Bernabeu.

Reports in Spain have claimed talks over a new contract has stalled with Real Madrid, leading to suggestions Ramos might think about a new challenge, with the English Premier League looking like the obvious destination.

Indeed, according to AS, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has already made contact with Ramos' agent over a possible transfer, be that in January or in the summer.

However, like Arsenal, Manchester United are also in the hunt for a new central defender, an experienced one, who can act as the leader for the back-four.

Van Gaal and Wenger have been tipped to go head to head for Borussia Dortmund star Mats Hummels, and another fight could be in the offing for Ramos, if he indeed does become available, which it must be said does seem extremely unlikely.

Ramos could cost Manchester United as much as £40 million, according to the Daily Star, and Van Gaal will need to give serious consideration before looking to pull the trigger for the centre-back, who, really should have no reasons to leave Real Madrid for playing reasons.

Completing the Real Madrid target triumvirate is Coentrao, who has been linked with a move to Manchester United for a while.

Coentrao has reportedly been on United's radar much before Van Gaal took over, and with the Portuguese tipped to leave Real Madrid in the January transfer window, Manchester United might look to make a move for the left-back.

However, it is questionable if Manchester United need another left-back, having invested heavily on Luke Shaw, while Marcos Rojo and Tyler Blackett are also quite capable of playing in that position.