MANCHESTER: David Moyes has agreed a six-year contract to manage Manchester United after Everton confirmed that he will be leaving Goodison Park after 11 years when his contract the end of the season writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

Moyes met chairman Bill Kenwright in London yesterday evening; the club confirmed his departure early this afternoon with United following up an hour later. Moyes will probably earn around £5m-a-year.

The recommendation to appoint Moyes, United confirmed, came from none less than retiring Sir Alex Ferguson himself.

Moyes, 50, first met Ferguson when he attended Scottish FA coaching courses.

Later he became manager of Preston and drew comparisons with a young Ferguson, not only through his coaching and management talent, but with his quick-tempered nature.

In July 2001 that provoked an incident in nightclub on a pre-season tour when an angry Moyes confronted two players after poor results against German minor league Wacker Berguhausen and Turkish club Kocaelispor.

He took over at Everton in March 2002 and gave Wayne Rooney his Premier League debut in the August before selling him to Manchester United two years later for £20m.

Cup Final defeat

He took Everton to FA Cup Final in 2009, where they lost 2-1 to Chelsea after beating Man United in semi-final

Balancing Moyes’s lack of European experience is his willingness to give youth a chance and his value-for-money assessment of transfer target players. Everton benefited from Moyes’s purchase of players such as Tim Cahill for £2m from Millwall and Phil Jagielka from Sheffield United for £4m.

United have appointed a coach as well as a manager. Moyes enjoys the training ground as much as the manager’s office. He will delegate to trusted staff but still prefers to run sessions himself.

Everton began this season with a 1-0 home win over United last August then lost 2-0 at Old Trafford in February.

The Goodison club said: “The chairman, on behalf of the club, would like to place on record his thanks to David for the massive contribution he has made to Everton since his arrival in March 2002. He has been an outstanding manager.”

Leading contenders for the Everton job include Wigan’s Roberto Martinez and Swansea’s Michael Laudrup.

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