SUNDERLAND -- David Moyes has said that Manchester United never needed to show they had the "biggest balls" in the transfer market in the past, but admitted that he was targeting Gareth Bale, Cesc Fabregas, Cristiano Ronaldo and Toni Kroos.
Moyes took charge of United in summer 2013 and his only major signing during that transfer window was Marouane Fellaini on deadline day, from his former club Everton for £27.5 million. At the time, Bale was at Tottenham Hotspur, Fabregas at Barcelona, Ronaldo at Real Madrid and Kroos at Bayern Munich.
Under new manager Jose Mourinho, United spent heavily during this summer's window, including breaking the world record to sign midfielder Paul Pogba from Juventus for £89.3m.
Moyes said: "When I first went in, my real target was Gareth Bale. I felt all along that Gareth 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.
"The other one was Cesc Fabregas, who we thought we would get right up until the last minute. I remember, when I first met Sir Alex, and he always said there was a chance Ronaldo might come back.
"Toni Kroos was agreed to come in the summer. I had agreed it with Toni himself and his agent.
"So that was the level we were targeting. We had a squad which had just won the league. I wanted to gradually make changes as I went along, not make wholesale changes."
When asked if his spell in charge would have been different if he had signed those players, Moyes replied: "I don't know. A lot of players come into Manchester United and have not necessarily made the difference.
"But I think that, given time and having got to this period, I would have hoped I would be working with a successful team now."
Moyes spoke about how United have gone away from some of their past traditions recently -- including the way they spend money and not appointing a British manager.
The Sunderland manager said: "Of course they bought [Eric] Cantona and the best defender in Rio Ferdinand and looked for players, but Man United never went out there to show they had the biggest balls. Man United did what they thought was right for the football club, always.
"Maybe that has had to change because of the current situation. Sir Alex went out and bought wisely and correctly in the transfer market and what he thought he needed to do."
Moyes is returning to Old Trafford on Boxing Day when his side face United. The Scot, who was sacked as United manager after 10 months, admitted that the experience of being their manager was a challenge -- but he would not change it.
He said: "It was a great experience and one I wouldn't change. The quality of the players and professionalism, you think you know what it's like at the very top until you go in there at Manchester United. You see what it's really like.
"I've been fortunate to see that and I now know where I need to take my players and need to take myself to be successful."
When asked if he would still want to do the United job, despite how his time there went, Moyes said: "100 percent. There are very few people offered the job at Manchester United and I was honoured to be offered the job. You have to be half decent to be offered the job.
"They have a very good manager in charge now and they had very good and experienced one in Louis van Gaal. I would say they'd all say that going to Manchester United is a different animal to maybe even some of the clubs they have managed before."