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David Moyes has opened up on how he failed to land Barcelona and Real Madrid greats Cesc Fabregas and Gareth Bale during his forgettable stint at Manchester United. The Scotsman was appointed the successor to the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013 after the latter's retirement.
Moyes was regarded as 'the chosen one' to replace one of the greatest managers of all time. However, he could not even last for a full season at Manchester United and was sacked in April 2014.
The former West Ham United and Everton manager has now reflected on his time at Old Trafford. He also admitted that the Red Devils failed to land two of his top targets Cesc Fabregas and Gareth Bale.
Moyes insisted that he spoke to Fabregas, who was then out of favor at Barcelona, but failed to sign him. He said, as quoted by The Mirror:
“In terms of the signings I wanted, we had a terrible window. I spoke to Cesc and he’d been out of the team at Barcelona, so he agreed that if he wasn’t in the team for their first game of the season then he’d come to United. He was going to be the big signing."
The former Manchester United manager also admitted that the Red Devils were desperate to sign Gareth Bale. However, the Welshman had his heart set on a move to Real Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur.
“The other player I wanted was Gareth Bale. United always had great wide players like David Beckham and Ryan Giggs, so I thought he would fit. We made the bigger offer to Tottenham and to the player, we had a helicopter waiting for him, but he had his heart set on Real Madrid,” Moyes added.
Manchester United have been on a downward spiral since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement. They have won just four major trophies since 2013 and now have their eighth manager in charge in Erik ten Hag.
Manchester United icon claims he was laughed at by Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand after his move to Old Trafford
Former Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra revealed that some of his ex-teammates laughed at him when he joined the Red Devils. He insisted the likes of Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes, and Rio Ferdinand mocked him for his lack of physicality.
Evra joined United from Monaco in 2006 for a fee of just £5 million. In an interview with Betfair, the Frenchman said, via Sport Bible:
"I love to be challenged in my life. I think that's when you see the best version of myself. I'll be honest with you, players like Paul Scholes, they said: 'Patrice I think you were a joke! I think we should send you back for free to Monaco!'"
"I remember some players like Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney they were laughing at me in training when people were pushing me down because I needed to adapt my football. I was a skilful player, I didn't know that first you needed to be strong. So first I went in the gym, which I never did while I was playing in France," Evra added.
Evra made 379 appearances for Manchester United during his eight-year stint at the club, winning five Premier Leagues and one Champions League, among other honors.
