David Moyes has revealed that he missed out on three of his big targets as manager of Manchester United.
Moyes was appointed as Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor in 2013 with many expecting him to be their next manager for years to come, but was sacked 8 months into a disappointing campaign with Louis van Gaal taking over. Van Gaal had an equally disappointing spell, while Jose Mourinho has had a tough start to his Manchester United reign as well, despite landing all his top targets.
And Moyes has revealed that he had huge ambitions at United but was unable to land any of his top targets. Moyes would eventually have to settle for signing only two high-profile players in Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata, but feels that things might have been different had he landed his top targets.
“Toni Kroos was agreed to come in the summer,” Moyes said, according to the Telegraph. “I had agreed it with Toni himself and his agent. 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 [Tottenham Hotspur] a bigger deal than Real Madrid [a then world record £85 million – United offered £100 million]. 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.”
“Sometimes you don’t get deals done. Gareth Bale we were probably behind all along, Real Madrid were well in for it.The Cesc one was disappointing. It was very close. And Toni Kroos came up in January – it was done. And I remember when I first met Sir Alex and he always said there was a chance Ronaldo might come back. So that was the level we were targeting.”
Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo has since said that he intends on retiring at Real Madrid and recently signed a new contract, although he has expressed his love for Manchester United on several occasions. Bale has grown into one of the most dangerous players on the planet and has had a successful time at Real Madrid thus far, having already won two UEFA Champions League titles with Los Blancos.
Cesc Fabregas eventually returned to the Premier League after being deemed surplus to requirements at Barcelona and went on to win the Premier League title with the Blues. Toni Kroos has also become a key part of his squad and extended his contract with Real Madrid earlier this season but is now a reported target for Italian side Juventus.
It is likely that Moyes would have had a better time at United had he managed to land at least 2 of his main targets but things were not to be for the Scotsman. Louis van Gaal, who came in after Moyes was sacked, had better success landing his top targets but endured a similarly tough time at United. Mourinho has had his way, though, after smashing the record to bring in Paul Pogba and signing all 4 of his targets.
David Moyes has revealed that he missed out on three of his big targets as manager of Manchester United.
Moyes was appointed as Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor in 2013 with many expecting him to be their next manager for years to come, but was sacked 8 months into a disappointing campaign with Louis van Gaal taking over. Van Gaal had an equally disappointing spell, while Jose Mourinho has had a tough start to his Manchester United reign as well, despite landing all his top targets.
And Moyes has revealed that he had huge ambitions at United but was unable to land any of his top targets. Moyes would eventually have to settle for signing only two high-profile players in Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata, but feels that things might have been different had he landed his top targets.
“Toni Kroos was agreed to come in the summer,” Moyes said, according to the Telegraph. “I had agreed it with Toni himself and his agent. 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 [Tottenham Hotspur] a bigger deal than Real Madrid [a then world record £85 million – United offered £100 million]. 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.”
“Sometimes you don’t get deals done. Gareth Bale we were probably behind all along, Real Madrid were well in for it.The Cesc one was disappointing. It was very close. And Toni Kroos came up in January – it was done. And I remember when I first met Sir Alex and he always said there was a chance Ronaldo might come back. So that was the level we were targeting.”
Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo has since said that he intends on retiring at Real Madrid and recently signed a new contract, although he has expressed his love for Manchester United on several occasions. Bale has grown into one of the most dangerous players on the planet and has had a successful time at Real Madrid thus far, having already won two UEFA Champions League titles with Los Blancos.
Cesc Fabregas eventually returned to the Premier League after being deemed surplus to requirements at Barcelona and went on to win the Premier League title with the Blues. Toni Kroos has also become a key part of his squad and extended his contract with Real Madrid earlier this season but is now a reported target for Italian side Juventus.
It is likely that Moyes would have had a better time at United had he managed to land at least 2 of his main targets but things were not to be for the Scotsman. Louis van Gaal, who came in after Moyes was sacked, had better success landing his top targets but endured a similarly tough time at United. Mourinho has had his way, though, after smashing the record to bring in Paul Pogba and signing all 4 of his targets.