David Moyes reveals top three transfer near misses with Man Utd

David Moyes has revealed he missed out on signing three world class players during his short spell in charge of Manchester United.

The current West Ham coach took over from Sir Alex Ferguson at United in the summer of 2013, joining from Everton after 11 years in charge of the Merseyside club.

He signed a six-year deal with the Red Devils, however lasted only 10 months after being sacked in April of the 2013/14 season after what had been a hugely disappointing campaign.

His time in the Old Trafford hot seat is looked back on as the start of the slump that the club has endured since, with United finishing in the Premier League’s top four only twice in the six years since Ferguson’s departure.

Things could have been much different had Moyes landed some of his transfer targets, though, after he claimed that he attempted to recruit the likes of Toni Kroos, Gareth Bale and Cesc Fabregas.

In an interview with beIN SPORTS, relayed on The Mirror, the 56-year-old was asked for his top three transfer near misses during his managerial career and replied: “One of them would be Michael Essien, that was actually to bring him to Everton.

“Toni Kroos would certainly be the one [to Manchester United].

“At that time we [Manchester United] were very much after Gareth Bale and Cesc Fabregas but I’ve got to say prior to that, at Everton, we were really close to close to a lot of good players. We just couldn’t quite get them over the line on several occasions.”

 

 

Bale, who was still a Tottenham Hotspur player at the time, chose to sign for Real Madrid in the 2013 summer window, while Kroos also joined ‘Los Blancos’ from Bayern Munich a year later.

Fabregas, meanwhile, did go on to make a return to the Premier League but with United’s rivals Chelsea, whom he joined from Barcelona for £29.7million in July 2014.

Moyes made just two signings during his time with United, with Marouane Fellaini following him to Manchester from Goodison and Juan Mata brought in from Chelsea.

Fellaini played 177 games for United, scoring 22 goals, before being sold to Chinese Super League side Shandong Luneng Taishan, while Mata is still with the club and has made 249 appearances for the Red Devils to date.

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