Gareth Bale is negotiating to lead the US acquisition of Plymouth Argyle.

Gareth Bale has been positioned to spearhead a possible takeover of Plymouth Argyle by a US-based private equity firm.

 His unexpected participation follows a competing American investment group's partnership with Luka Modric, a former teammate of Bale's at Real Madrid, at Swansea City.

 Behind the scenes, Argyle and the investment group—which also includes members of the Storch family from America—are having discussions.

Bale's participation as a co-owner had been surprising, since he had no historical ties to Plymouth.  To add glitz to club purchases below England's top flight, US groups have, nevertheless, recently looked more and more to collaborate with well-known figures.  After NFL legend Tom Brady joined Birmingham City as a co-owner, Modric joined Swansea.  Before Leeds United returned to the Premier League, American golfers Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas also purchased interests in the team.

Several sources have confirmed a US private equity group partnering with Bale is currently in talks over a bid for full control at Home Park.

Argyle chairman Simon Hallett has been looking for fresh investment in the club for at least a year. Hallett, who first invested in the club in 2016 and became majority shareholder two years later, had previously agreed in principle to sell a stake in the club to new investors, but he confirmed last month a deal fell through.

After placing 23rd in the Championship, Argyle was demoted to League One in May.  Last week, Hallett hired former Watford manager Tom Cleverley to take over as head coach after Miron Muslic joined Schalke of Germany.  After two years in the Championship, Argyle is returning to League One this season, and the 35-year-old has signed a three-year contract.

 After a dismal second half of the season, Cleverley missed out on the play-offs and was fired by Watford in May.

After Hallett revealed that a prior investment bid had failed, the Bale-led acquisition came to light.  He stated last month that "we have been in discussions with a potential new investor in our club for more than a year – those discussions resulted in an application for approval of that investment being lodged with the EFL in February."  Negotiations have unfortunately taken too long, and neither the EFL nor we have received the crucial information needed to close the agreement.  I no longer think the new investor will be announced soon.

According to Hallett, he and the club's current shareholders, Argyle Green and the Holliday family, will match the amount of money they had budgeted for this season with the new investor. He claims that this amount is double what the team had when they won League One in 2023.

 Argyle renovated the Mayflower Grandstand while Hallett owned it, and they are contributing to the construction of new academy facilities at the former Brickfields.

 Bale, the most successful Welsh football player of all time, played 12 games for Los Angeles FC before retiring from the game in 2023; it is unclear how he got engaged in the proposed takeover.