DAVID MOYES reportedly though Ed Woodward was either “a clown or a f***ing genius” after promising him Cristiano Ronaldo or Gareth Bale.
Instead he delivered his former Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini as the ex-Manchester United manager’s only summer signing following his arrival at Old Trafford.
David Moyes thought Ed Woodward was either ‘a clown or a genius’ after one of his first meetings upon taking charge at Old TraffordCredit: Getty
Either Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo were the men that Moyes thought would be arriving at Old TraffordCredit: Rex Features
Instead he ended up with Marouane Fellaini as his only summer signingCredit: Getty
That is the claim made by ESPN, who say the Scot told that to a member of his coaching team following an early meeting with the club’s newly appointed executive vice-chairman back in July 2013.
The 56-year-old arrived at United as the “chosen one” to replace Sir Alex Ferguson on a six-year contract that same year and believed several blockbuster deals were already underway.
He was allegedly told “the club were just waiting to press the button on whichever deal he wanted to do” – with Moyes opting against signing Barcelona’s Thiago Alcantara.
Former Preston boss Moyes then added Fellaini and fellow Everton man Leighton Baines to his shopping list.
But come August 31, the only transfer they managed to get over the line was the hugely inflated £27.5m deal for Fellaini.
That was proved to be a disastrous window for United, with both men pointing the blame at each other, and left the Old Trafford squad feeling underwhelmed despite winning the title the season before.
ESPN say a member of that squad told them: “The lads wanted a star name to lift the dressing-room, and we got Fellaini.
“Felli was a good lad and he did a job, but the rest of us were just looking at each other, wondering what the hell had happened.
“David misjudged the squad. He needed two new centre-halves at the outset because injuries had caught up with Rio [Ferdinand] and Vida [Nemanja Vidic].
“But he was too worried about making such a big call straightaway. He didn’t take risks and he didn’t want risk-takers.”
United went on to make their worst start to a season, but things failed to get better when the January window re-opened as they panic bought again by bringing Juan Mata in from Chelsea for £37.1m.
And that was another signing that failed to impress the United players.
“Great lad, Juan, but we didn’t need him,” said ESPN’s dressing-room source.
“We had Shinji Kagawa at the time and he was a really popular, well-respected player within the dressing-room.
“Moyes didn’t know how to use him. He didn’t trust him. But Shinji was quicker and more direct than Juan, who actually had the effect of slowing the team down.”
Moyes reign at Old Trafford was finally ended in April 2014 after they were dumped out of the Champions League and their hopes of finishing in the top four were ended.
Meanwhile, Woodward is still in charge at United and splashed the cash again last summer to bring in Daniel James, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire to bolster Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
