Moyes struggled to attract big-name transfer targets during the summer.
Check in to Manchester United vs Stoke City
Former Manchester United assistant manager Mike Phelan has claimed that the Premier League champions would have brought a major world-class star to Old Trafford last summer had former boss Sir Alex Ferguson still been in charge at Old Trafford, according to reports in the Daily Mail.
The legendary Scot shocked the world of football by announcing his decision to retire from the game at the end of the previous campaign after more than 26 years spent in charge of the Red Devils.
Ferguson was replaced in the dugout at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ by David Moyes, with the ex-Everton coach struggling to sign a number of his intended transfer targets during the close-season transfer window.
In the end, Moyes did manage to lure Marouane Fellaini to United for £27.5m, however, he also missed out on a number of other big-name targets, particularly Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas.
Now, though, Phelan says that had Fergie still been at the helm of the Premier League champions, and had one-time chief executive David Gill also not left the club at the end of last season, then United would have made a major signing.
“If Sir Alex and David Gill had still been the bosses … I won’t name the player, but there would have been a star signing – one of the absolute best players in the world,” Phelan told a Scandinavian United supporters’ club magazine.
“It was something the boss talked about, and the owners and David Gill were also quite clear on doing it.
“There’s very few of such players out there. I think it’s clear to everybody who I’m talking about.”