Bengaluru, March 19: Former Manchester United manager David Moyes has opened up on just how close he came to signing a trio of star players to Old Trafford, during his time in charge at the club.

Moyes was appointed as the Red Devils manager following Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 but sadly he was got sacked after just nine months in the job during a disastrous season.

The Scot was primarily offered a six-year contract although didn’t even see out the whole campaign, with Ryan Giggs replacing him for the final weeks and securing United a seventh-place finish in the Premier League.

In his period, Moyes only signed two players, in Summer Marouane Fellaini and in Winter Juan Mata. But as per the Scottish manager, he was close to signing three other star players as well.

During an interview with beIN Sports, Moyes claimed that after arriving at United his first idea was to sign Tottenham star Gareth Bale. United apparently also lined up a helicopter on stand-by should they able to land him on the last minute deal. But the Welsh superstar eventually went onto sign for Real Madrid.

“By the time we got to the end of the transfer window we always thought we had a chance of getting Gareth Bale," Moyes told.

“We hoped we could talk him out of going to Real Madrid because already it was sort of half done. We offered more money, we had tried to entice him.

Asked whether United had a helicopter on standby to get the Welshman, Moyes said: “We did. We did. We had it and we tried.”

"We hoped we could have talked him out of Real Madrid."

Moyes confirms he tried to tempt Gareth Bale to #MUFC at the last minute, even putting a helicopter on standby! #beINPL pic.twitter.com/CEmyhzcDhX

— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) March 17, 2019

The former Everton manager also revealed that apart from Bale he also lined-up two midfield deals with Kroos and Fabregas on the cards for the next season.

Kroos and Fabregas who were unhappy at Bayern and Barcelona respectively and reportedly held a chat with Moyes over a possible transfer but following his sacking in mid-season the agreement collapsed. Kroos ultimately signed for Real while Fabregas came to Premier League with Chelsea.

"Cesc Fabregas was very close. I spoke to him and hoped to bring him from Barcelona."

"I had met Toni Kroos, during the season, and agreed he would come to Man United before he went to Real Madrid but somewhere in there I lost my job and it meant that Toni went elsewhere."

"But this is management and we all have lots of hard-luck stories."

Moyes's tenure following the United debacle has not fared well. The Scottish manager following the Old Trafford removal although has been around in three different clubs but yet to last anywhere for more than one season.

The 55-year-old is currently without any club however said to be looking at various Scottish premier league sides to return into management once again.