Moyes wanted four key Man Utd transfers and even made CR7 admission

David Moyes has admitted over time he wanted to sign Gareth Bale, Cesc Fabregas, Toni Kroos and Leighton Baines during his brief stint as Manchester United boss.

Having made a name for himself with Everton, Moyes was handpicked by the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson to fill his retiring shoes in 2013. A banner that read ‘The Chosen One’ even resided over his Old Trafford appointment. However, such promise would be short-lived.

The Scotsman couldn't build on a Community Shield win, and fast-forward to April 2014, with the Red Devils sitting seventh in the Premier League, Moyes was relieved of his duties after just 10 months on the job.

Since departing the club, Moyes has gone on to taste trophy success with West Ham by lifting the Europa Conference League, and he is now back in charge of the Toffees – who are suddenly flourishing.

However, when he first arrived in Manchester, Moyes had his sights set on some momentous targets – along similar lines to world-beater Cristiano Ronaldo – that could have calmed the impending choppy United seas.

“When I first went in, my real target was Gareth Bale. I felt all along that Gareth Bale was a Manchester United player,” Moyes told ESPN. “I fought right until the last minute.”

In the summer of 2013, Bale had achieved world-class status with Tottenham and seemed to be seeking pastures new; however, such pastures were not in Manchester.

“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.”

Neither Bale nor then-Barcelona star Fabregas would be signed – Marouane Fellaini was the only major recruit that window from Everton and Juan Mata later arrived in the January from Chelsea – despite Moyes admitting the bar for transfers was set exceptionally high.

“I remember when I first met Sir Alex (Ferguson) and he always said there was a chance Ronaldo might come back. So that was the level we were targeting. I was not going out to bring in seven, eight players, because we had a squad which had just won the league.

“Toni Kroos was agreed to come in the summer (2014). I had agreed it with Toni himself and his agent. 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.

“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.”

Moyes also told late Everton chairman Bill Kenwright that left-back Baines was of interest to him, admitting: “Once I got the United job, I discussed it [signing Baines] with Bill near enough immediately. I said that there would be some players I would be interested in.“

The Red Devils still linger on the brink of mediocrity 11 years after the sacking of Moyes – even after eventually bringing Ronaldo back to Old Trafford for a second spell – and currently sit in the bottom half of the table under new manager Ruben Amorim. He is the seventh permanent head coach since Ferguson, whom none have been able to live up to.

Amorim will be desperate to bring some positivity to the fans on Saturday, with United facing a tricky test against Moyes' in-form Toffees for their final ever visit to Goodison Park (12.30pm).