Moyes' £100m Shopping List

David Moyes will present Manchester United with an unprecedented £100million transfer hit-list this summer. The United manager’s bold statement of the players he wants to restore his team to greatness will test owners the Glazer family’s eagerness to share his ambitions for the club.

Top targets for Moyes are Juventus midfield pair Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba, together valued at around £60m and an indication of the United manager’s current anxiety about the part of his team that has consistently failed to produce this season.

                                

 

Juventus midfielders Arturo Vidal (above) and Paul Pogba (below) are Moyes' top targets

Moyes has also earmarked Joel Veltman, of Ajax, and Southampton teenager Luke Shaw as he tries to freshen up an ageing defence. And he will follow up his long-standing interest in Atletico Madrid’s  25-year-old Brazil international striker Diego Costa. The list is certain to test United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward’s ability to wheel and deal.

If Moyes has found it difficult in the shadow of Sir Alex Ferguson, Woodward has no less daunting a job to succeed former chief executive David Gill, who, like Fergie, is still very much a presence at Old Trafford. Woodward’s biggest problem will not be financing the transfers. If United do not finish in the Premier League’s top four this season, Woodward will have to persuade players to give up their Champions League ambitions for at least a year and that will not be easy. An accountant, Woodward arrived at United after representing the American owners during their successful 2005 takeover. He made his mark as a successful head of commercial operations but Gill’s decision to stand down propelled Woodward into an entirely different role, negotiating with rival club executives and players’ agents. The recent acquisition of £37m Juan Mata from Chelsea was a step in the right direction.