Former Manchester United manager David Moyes has revealed that he tried to bring in several star players like Cesc Fabregas and Cristiano Ronaldo during his short tenure at the club.

Moyes was handpicked by Sir Alex Ferguson when the Scot decided to retire after more than two decades at the club. It was always going to be a tough ask for any manager to follow Ferguson and Moyes indeed found it difficult as well. The former Everton manager did not last more than a couple of months in the job, as he was sacked well before the conclusion of the season.

One of the major disappointments for Moyes was his inability to bring in players that he wanted in the squad. Even though the team had just won the league, United recognised that the team needed investment in several areas of the pitch. The club were ready to back manager Moyes, but faced a lot of difficulties in acquiring the transfer targets. The Scot has just revealed that he had players like Cesc Fabregas, Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos, and Ronaldo.

In the end, none of the targets wanted to play under Moyes – despite the club’s incredible presitige – and United were only able to bring in MarouaneFellaini as their only signing from Everton for £27 million.

“When I first went in my real target was Gareth Bale. I felt all along he was a United player.I fought right until the last minute and we actually offered a bigger deal than Real Madrid but Gareth had his mind made up on going there.He was, in my mind, the player I really wanted to bring to United. The other one was Fabregas, who we thought we would get right up until the last minute,” said Moyes on his return to Old Trafford as the Sunderland manager.