David Moyes claims Manchester United wanted to sign Ronaldo, Bale and Fabregas last season

David Moyes during a match featuring Manchester United

In what has to be the most sensational revelation since he was sacked as manager of Manchester United, David Moyes has revealed that he was targetting Real Madrid wingers Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and former Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, the former Preston and Everton manager discusses in detail about the how, the why and the when of his 10-month-reign as the boss at Old Trafford.

The impossible job

“It was a step into the unknown and, looking back now, it was near enough the impossible job,’ he said. ‘But it was the right job for me. I’d been at Everton for more than 11 years. We’d qualified for the Champions League, got to an FA Cup final, I’d been voted manager of the season three times. I was among the most experienced managers in the Premier League. United had always had British managers.

“I was devastated to lose the job because it was something I felt I could make a real success of. We knew it was going to take time to make the necessary changes. It was going to take time to evolve. But we were in the process of making other important changes. In the end, I don’t feel I was given time to succeed or fail.”

Disappointment in the manner of the sacking

Moyes also dwells on how disappointed he was about the manner in which he came to know that he was removed from the position.

“In the end it was difficult for my family, the way we discovered — via the media — that I’d lost my job,” he said without hiding his disappointment. “We have always tried to do things the correct way. I know it comes with the territory, and I know if you lose matches you risk being sacked. But how it affected my family made it hard. My dad is a great football man [he was a coach at the much respected Drumchapel Amateur Football Club where both Moyes and Ferguson had started out]. He lives near us [in the house adjacent to the family home near Preston] and he has always followed my career. I always take him to the games and I hope when I’m his age — he’s 79 now — my son takes me to the football, too.”

Ed Woodward and David Moyes

Interest in Bale, Ronaldo and Fabregas

Speaking about his failure in the transfer market in the last summer transfer window, where he could only sign midfielder Marouane Fellaini on deadline day, he said that he made all efforts to bring in players.

“We tried to bring players in during the summer transfer window but they didn’t materialise. It certainly wasn’t for the lack of trying. It wasn’t indecision. The complete opposite.

In a veiled jibe at executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, he admitted that both of them made mistakes.

“It’s been well documented that we wanted Fabregas, Bale and Ronaldo. There was talk of Ronaldo when I first arrived. We were close to getting a couple of major names. I’m not getting in a blame game here but things just didn’t materialise. I had taken over from the most successful manager in history. The chief executive had taken over from one of the most renowned administrators in the game [David Gill]. So it was a new job for two people.” he said.

Cristiano Ronaldo did reveal about a possibility of coming back to the club but signed a new contract with Real Madrid eventually. The club also signed Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur. Cesc Fabregas stayed at Barcelona but moved to Chelsea the following season.

Moyes on transfers: "It’s been well documented that we wanted Fabregas, Bale and Ronaldo. There was talk of Ronaldo when I arrived." #MUFC

— Kevin Palmer (@kpsundayworld) August 16, 2014

On Manchester United players

He revealed that he had given a speech to the players at the club before leaving and bore no ill-will towards them.

“On the day I lost my job I spoke to every player at the training ground,’ he says. ‘I called the players into the dressing room at 10am that morning and told them how disappointed I was; how surprised I was that it had ended so soon. But I told them that they were playing for a great club. I told them that they should all embrace it and realise how fortunate they are.

“The players were how you would expect them to be. Quiet but respectful. If you’re a Manchester United player you have to have a lot of respect. It was the first time I’d ever had to give a speech like that. Never before in my career. But I felt it was the right thing to do, to address them before I left.”

Eagerness to get back into management

The 51-year-old reveals that he wants to get back into management soon.

“This is the first time I've missed a preseason since I was 16,” he added. “I'm 51 now so that's a long time. I've missed it because pre-season is quite an enjoyable time. As a manager it's a bit more relaxed. I've also enjoyed having a bit more spare time than normal.

“It's going to hurt this weekend that I'm not managing Manchester United, because that's obviously what I'd have liked to have been doing. But I'll watch the games. I won't be running away from it. Football is something I've been involved in since I was a boy.

“I still love the game. At times I found it difficult, but I love being around football people and I also accept that you are going to have bad times as well as good times. And I've still had an awful lot of good times.”

“I just want to keep working. I worked long and hard to get to that level. I put in an awful lot of effort for it to be taken away from me. I feel that whoever gets me now will probably get, not a more determined David Moyes because I've always given everything, but I will definitely have a focus on what I'll be aiming to do.”

His successor Louis van Gaal has begun his reign at Old Trafford with a 2-1 loss to Swansea on the opening day of the Premier League 2014-15 season.