Pogba deal was not possible - Moyes

David Moyes has told The Sunday Times that he wanted to sign Paul Pogba for Manchester United, but suggested a deal would have been impossible.

The former United manager named the Juventus midfielder -- along with Arturo Vidal and Toni Kroos, two other players he scouted extensively -- among five players he selected to watch at the forthcoming World Cup.

United were reportedly quoted a price of 60 million pounds for Pogba, who cost Juventus just 800,000 pounds after opting to leave Old Trafford when his contract expired in 2012.

And Moyes -- who believes Pogba can "develop into one of the best in the world, the next Yaya Toure" -- said he had wanted to see rather more of the 21-year-old at the Red Devils.

"If it were possible, I would have tried to bring him back to Manchester United," he wrote in the paper's World Cup supplement. "He has flourished in Serie A since joining Juve at the age of 19 but that has been no surprise to those who worked with him at Old Trafford."

The 13-times Premier League champions abandoned their pursuit of Bayern Munich midfielder Kroos after Louis van Gaal replaced Moyes as manager, with the Netherlands coach set to take over after the World Cup ends.

And the Scot wrote: "It is no secret that I had put a lot of groundwork into signing [Kroos] for Manchester United. What I like about Kroos is that he plays the ball to penetrate, he doesn't do passing for passing's sake."

Van Gaal is reportedly interested in Vidal, however, telling reporters: "Chile have very dangerous players. I always wanted to buy Vidal when he was at Bayer Leverkusen but he went to Juventus."