He ended up having to sign Marouane Fellaini instead.
David Moyes has opened up about narrowly missing out on signing two world-class players during his time at Manchester United.
Moyes joined Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Ian Wright and Jill Scott on Stick to Football, to discuss his experiences in management and issue advice to Ruben Amorim as he prepares to take over United.
Moyes revealed to the hosts that he was close to signing Cesc Fabregas and Gareth Bale when he was manager of the Reds.
The now 61-year-old took over the Red Devils from Alex Ferguson in 2013 after the iconic manager announced his retirement after 27 years in charge of the club.
The Glaswegian said: “My plan was not to do anything different from what Alex had done but I couldn’t be Alex.”
He was manager of the club for just ten months but opened up to the presenters of the podcast, sharing how his tenure got off to a rocky start.
He said: “I was asked if would I be interested in Cesc Fabregas and I said well definitely and that was the main signing we tried to get in the summer.
“I spoke to Cesc and he said ‘If I start the first game for Barcelona then I’m not coming and if I don’t start then I will come.’ So, I was going to have to wait right until that time to find out.”
Fabregas was not the only top name Moyes had lined up for the Reds, but there was more disappointment in store for the former Everton boss.
He said: “Gareth Bale was the other one. My interpretation of Man United were that they were great wingers, great wide players, traditionally, from George Best – all through the years, Man United had great wide players.
“I thought Gareth Bale would be the one. To be fair to the club, they offered more money, they tried but he had his heart set and we took it right to the wire.
“I didn’t really have a backup to what I wanted after those two players.”
Moyes first signing ended up being Marouane Fellaini.
“I brought Marouane Fellaini, he was the only one who came in.
My only thought was they’ll be going away to Stoke City and games like that. To be fair to him, he had a big career at United. When I lost those first two signings, my start was terrible, the window wasn’t good enough.”
During the podcast, Moyes spoke of the difficulties new managers face as they come into Manchester United and how across football the roles and responsibilities of the manager have shifted slightly with the introduction of technical directors and sporting directors.
