Moyes: Everton were close to winning Premier League title

David Moyes believes his Everton side were close to being good enough to win the Premier League before he left for Manchester United.

The Scot is set to come up against the Toffees on Monday in his new role as Sunderland manager, with the Black Cats still looking for their first victory of the season.

And Moyes believes the side that he managed for 11 years were a high-quality striker away from challenging for silverware.

"We had a great team at Everton but were missing a centre forward," he told reporters.

"I might be exaggerating but I think with that, we would have been close to winning the Premier League. We were that good.

"But we couldn't get the finances to buy a striker in the last couple of years of my time there.

"I have to be fair to Bill Kenwright who was always trying to give me it and every penny he had, he gave me. I don't have any complaints."

Moyes also sees a lot of similarities between Sunderland and the Goodison Park outfit, though he feels it will take time for his current club to reach a similar level.

I see Everton as a very similar club to Sunderland. We are not going to be the biggest spenders, just like Everton weren't and it's going to take time – at least three or four transfer windows.

"But even if we had a big pot of cash in the last window, it would have been difficult to do it overnight because of where we are as a club right now."