David Moyes' 3 Man Utd midfield targets: One he missed, one who snubbed and one he wanted

It is safe to say David Moyes' short spell in charge of Manchester United didn't exactly go to plan.

The 59-year-old replaced longstanding boss Sir Alex Ferguson at the helm and the latter was always going to be a hard person to replace given his record and number of trophies he won. Ferguson secured 24 major honours during his 26-year stint at Old Trafford.

Moyes arguably wasn't given the time to implement his style and philosophy on the club as he was sacked after just a year in the dugout. He accumulated a 52% win percentage and guided the Red Devils to a seventh-place finish in the Premier League.

It could have been a whole lot different for Moyes if he managed to get his main three midfield targets over the line, though. The trio were all linked with a move to United in summer 2013, but neither signed as he had to settle with those already at the club.

United ended up bringing in Marouane Fellaini from Everton for a fee in the region of £30million. This signing didn't exactly work out either, although the Belgian did make a total of 177 appearances for the club.

In the same season, the Red Devils were chasing a deal for now-Real Madrid superstar Toni Kroos. After winning the World Cup with Germany, the midfielder was a transfer target for United and he also wanted to make the move to Manchester rather than Madrid.

Moyes was so determined to bring Kroos to United that he made a personal trip to Munich to meet the player and his family. At the time, the former Bayer Levekusen man felt 'undervalued' at Bayern Munich and Old Trafford was his most likely destination after giving his word on the transfer.

"I knew beforehand that United wanted me," Kroos said, ahead of Los Blancos' Champions League semi-final