Former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino has advised Gareth Bale against signing with Manchester United.

Bale is expected to leave Real Madrid after his heroics helped them seal an historic third straight Champions League title against Liverpool on Saturday.

United are heavily favoured to sign the Welshman, but Cascarino believes Jose Mourinho's tactics would stifle Bale's influence.

"Gareth Bale will be 29 by the time he plays his next competitive match and he is right when he says he needs to be playing every week," Cascarino wrote in The Sunday Times.

"Manchester United could match his current wages, or even give him a raise, but that would be a terrible move for Bale unless Jose Mourinho can guarantee that he will play him as a centre forward.

"Playing wide for Mourinho would be the worst thing that could happen for Bale.

"United would be paying him £500,000-a-week to track back with full-backs.

"If he played up front, ahead of Romelu Lukaku - and I think he has the qualities to do that - that could work.

"Otherwise, he should be prepared to give up a bit of money and think about joining one of the three Premier League teams that play the best attacking football: Manchester City, Liverpool or Tottenham."