David Moyes has
claimed he targeted Gareth Bale, Cesc Fabregas, Toni Kroos and Cristiano
Ronaldo, when he was manager of Manchester United.
The Scot took over in the summer of 2013, after Sir
Alex Ferguson stepped down after 27 years in charge.
Moyes’ only acquisition during the transfer window was Marouane Fellaini on
deadline day. At that time, Bale was at Tottenham Hotspur, Fabregas at
Barcelona, Ronaldo at Real Madrid and Kroos at Bayern Munich.
Moyes said: “When I first went in, my real target
was Gareth Bale. I felt all along that Gareth Bale was a Manchester United
player.
“I fought right until the last minute. We actually
offered a bigger deal than Real Madrid. But Gareth had his mind made up on
going to Real Madrid. That was, in my mind, the player I really wanted to bring
to Manchester United.
“The other one was Cesc Fabregas, who we thought we would get right up until
the last minute. I remember, when I first met Sir Alex, and he always said
there was a chance Ronaldo might come back.
“Toni Kroos was agreed to come in the summer. I had
agreed it with Toni himself and his agent.
“So that was the level we were targeting. We had a
squad which had just won the league. I wanted to gradually make changes as I
went along, not make wholesale changes.”
When asked if his spell in charge would have been
different if he had signed those players, Moyes replied: “I don’t know. A lot
of players come into Manchester United and have not necessarily made the
difference.
“But I think that, given time and having got to this
period, I would have hoped I would be working with a successful team now.”
Comments