Cristiano Ronaldo Was Open to Manchester United Move in 2013, Says Moyes

David Moyes has revealed that he wanted to bring in Cristiano Ronaldo when he took over as the Manchester United manager in the summer of 2013.

The Scot was appointed as the replacement for Sir Alex Ferguson, who decided to step down after 26 years in charge of the club. However, it is widely perceived that the club needed vast investment on all fronts in order to remain challenging for the trophies. This was despite United winning the league title in Ferguson’s last season in charge. Upon his arrival, Moyes and United were linked with several big names, with Betfair offering odds as low as 2/1 on Cristiano Ronaldo coming, but ended up getting Marouane Fellaini.

The former Everton manager has opened upon his first transfer window since replacing Ferguson. He says that United were negotiating very hard and came close to signing the likes of Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos, and Cesc Fabregas. However, all players rejected the idea of moving to Old Trafford whether it may be down to the presence of an inexperienced manager – at the top level – like Moyes.

The Scot, who is now in charge of Sunderland, says that even Cristiano Ronaldo was reportedly contemplating the possibility of returning to Old Trafford. It was during this time that several rumours about Ronaldo being unhappy at the Santiago Bernabeu surfaced.

“Toni Kroos was agreed to come in the summer. I had agreed it with Toni himself and his agent.When I first went in my real target was Bale. I felt all along that Bale was a Manchester United player. I fought right until the last minute. 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. I remember when I first met Sir Alex and he always said there was a chance Ronaldo might come back,” said Moyes.