David Moyes in talks to become new Galatasaray manager
Galatasaray are thought to be willing to pay David Moyes £4m-a-year to take over before the start of the new season
David Moyes is contemplating a return to management with Turkish side Galatasaray as he looks to rebuild his reputation following his brutally swift sacking by Manchester United .
Moyes, who was fired just 10 months after Sir Alex Ferguson chose him as his successor, has travelled to Istanbul to discuss the possibility of succeeding former Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini at Galatasaray.
The Turkish club have tried to play down the significance of Moyes’s visit, declaring their preferred targets as USA national coach Jürgen Klinsmann and Germany’s national team manager Joachim Löw.
Galatasaray have not denied Moyes has shown an interest in taking his first position abroad, but insist he is there as part of a fact-finding exercise. That would tally with Moyes’s stated desire to travel across Europe in order to study different clubs and coaching techniques, although it has also been claimed in Turkey that the 51-year-old has been offered the job and has asked for some time to think about it.
“The president said that we just spoke with David Moyes,” a Galatasaray spokesman said. “He said that he can come to Galatasaray, but he is not one of the main targets for us. They just spoke to each other, exchanging ideas – that it is it. We are not in a rush, we are waiting for the end of the World Cup. The first two targets are Löw or Klinsmann.”
Whether either Löw or Klinsmann want to manage in a relatively unfashionable European league is another matter and the timing of Moyes’s trip suggests he has shown some interest in the position.
The Scot has always been receptive to the idea of managing abroad and will be able to get on with rebuilding his career in relative peace, in much the same way former England manager Steve McClaren did with FC Twente in Holland.
Moyes, though, has also spoken of his desire not to rush into anything, and Galatasaray, who are thought to be willing to pay the Scot £4 million a year to take over, would expect him to win the title in his first season.
But as Mancini discovered when he departed after just one disappointing season, there will be little patience if the team do not match that lofty ambition.
The last thing Moyes needs after his demise at United is another short spell in charge of a team and a second successive sacking after more than a decade as manager at Everton.
Although damaged by what happened at Old Trafford, Moyes has already turned down two approaches for his services since April and will not be short of offers once the season gets under way and managers start to lose their jobs.
Speaking last month Moyes told reporters: "I have had a couple of opportunities to go back in and chosen not to do anything just now. I am going to look for what I feel is the right opportunity."
He added: "I got my real first taste of the Champions League this year and I thought I showed I can manage at that level," he added. "I would like somewhere that would give me a chance of being in the Champions League or a club that has ambitions of being in the Champions League.
"It could be at home or abroad. I have always liked the thought of broadening my horizons and learning a bit more and at the moment I am quite comfortable watching and learning. I will go away and learn and look again to see what is happening."
