Sir Alex Ferguson was met with a clear-cut answer from one ex-Manchester United manager after he asked about the transfer interest in one legendary former player.
The 82-year-old Scotsman made his exit from Old Trafford in 2013 after he secured Manchester United’s last Premier League title in the 2012-13 season.
Sir Alex Ferguson engineered all 13 of United’s Premier League title wins, including leading the Red Devils to a historic continental treble in the 1998-99 season.
The United legend is widely considered one of the best managers of all time after his remarkable coaching spells at United in England and with Aberdeen in Scotland.
The Red Devils have struggled to reassert their dominance over English football since the former United manager bowed out of management.
However, Ferguson has remained an ever-present figure at Old Trafford long after his retirement and has seen both the highs and lows at United since 2013.
Ferguson and former Man Utd manager
David Moyes faced the tall order of replacing Sir Alex Ferguson in the Old Trafford dugout in 2013 after he left Premier League side Everton.
However, the 61-year-old Scottish manager endured an ill-fated spell with the Red Devils, with David Moyes’ managerial run lasting only 10 months at Old Trafford.
Manchester United capitulated under Moyes, who won the 2013 Community Shield with the club, and the former Everton boss was axed from Old Trafford in 2014.
Speaking on the Stick to Football show, Moyes opened up about his time at the Red Devils and revealed that Ferguson asked him about signing Cesc Fabregas.
The ex-United boss revealed that Cesc Fabregas, who was at Barcelona at the time, was “probably the main signing” for him in 2013 and failed in his bid to land him.
“My plans [at Manchester United] were to not do anything different to what Sir Alex Ferguson did but I couldn’t be Alex, I couldn’t manage like him,” Moyes said on The Overlap.
“I wasn’t going to come in and change the philosophy of Manchester United, I was just going to continue everything I thought he’d been doing right.”
“At the time, I remember when I’d met Sir Alex, he asked whether I’d be interested in Cesc Fabregas, and I said, ‘Definitely.’
“That was probably the main signing we were trying to get in the summer, and I’d spoken to Cesc, and he had said that if he started the first game for Barcelona, he wouldn’t come, but if he didn’t, then he would come.
“So, I was going to have to wait right to that time to find out.”
Moyes on missed Man Utd target
David Moyes endured a disastrous summer window in 2013 at United, with Marouane Fellaini being his only major signing in the transfer market.
The former West Ham boss worked with Marouane Fellaini at Everton and United landed the former Belgium midfielder for a £27.5m fee on deadline day.
Moyes revealed that he really wanted to sign Gareth Bale from Tottenham in 2013, but the Welshman was set on signing for La Liga outfit Real Madrid.
“Gareth Bale was the other one [we were trying to sign],” he said.
“My interpretation with Manchester United was that they had great wingers, great wide players with traditions from George Best and you name them all through the years.
“So, I thought Gareth Bale would be the one and to be fair to the club, they’d offered more money and had tried to get him, but he had his heart set on Real Madrid. We’d took it right to the wire to get him.”
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
