Maguire joined Manchester United for £80million last week following spells at Sheffield United, Hull and Leicester.
It was during Maguire's time at Sheffield United that he came to the attention of Moyes, but the Scot has admitted he was taken aback by his size at the time.
'We didn't try to sign him but we flagged him up at that time,' he told talkSPORT.
'I was very aware of the players in the lower leagues and had made a good career out of bringing them to Everton – whether that be Tim Cahill or all the ones we did through the years.
'Harry Maguire was another one I recognised. He played against Preston North End at home in a league game and I watched him and thought he played really well but at that time he was really big. You thought: "My goodness, how big is Harry going to be" because he was a relatively young boy at that time.'
Maguire shone on his United debut as they thrashed Chelsea 4-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday and Moyes says the centre back's physical development has been impressive - but doesn't regret not signing him.
'To be fair he looks in terrific shape and he hasn't changed at all really,' he added.
'When I went to United, we had [Nemanja] Vidic, Rio [Ferdinand], Jonny Evans, Michael Keane, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling so for us to go and buy another young centre half wasn't the biggest thing we needed at the time.
'And Harry Maguire has had to go on his journey. Sometimes the players need the journey to get to where they have to go. He might have struggled then.'
MailOnline
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