Manchester United reportedly missed out on signing Karim Benzema by just £7 million in 2008.
After Benzema, then at Lyon, scored against Manchester United in the Champions League as a 20 year old in 2008, former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson tracked him down in the tunnel to let him know that he would be welcome at Old Trafford.
Ferguson revealed the Red Devils missed out on signing Benzema by just £7million in 2008 before he joined Real Madrid the following summer.
“We tried to spend [the Cristiano Ronaldo money] on Karim Benzema as, at 21, I felt that there would be an improvement there,” Ferguson said.
“He is tough, good physique, a good goal scoring record, so it was worth going a wee bit extra for him because of his age. But when it went to £42m, it was beyond his value. We went to £35m and I think that was fair.”
Manchester United instead signed Michael Owen after refusing to meet up the asking price demanded by Lyon for Benzema.
Manchester United would definitely regret not signing Benzema as he is one of the best strikers in the world at the moment.