“It was beyond his value” - Sir Alex Ferguson’s old quotes on backing away from signing Karim Benzema resurface amid Manchester United rumors

Sir Alex Ferguson's old quotes on potentially signing Karim Benzema at Manchester United have resurfaced amid fresh transfer links involving the French superstar.

According to journalist Javier Parra Pena, Manchester United are exploring a six-month loan deal for the former Real Madrid striker. He signed a three-year deal with Al-Ittihad last summer after spending 14 seasons at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Benzema won 25 trophies in Madrid and scored 354 goals in 648 career games for them, cementing his status as a club legend. But it could have all been different for him if Manchester United had £7 more million to spend on him in the summer of 2009.

That summer, Manchester United had just sold Cristiano Ronaldo to Los Merengues for a fee of £80 million. Sir Alex stated later on that they wanted to spend a portion of this money on signing Benzema, who was then 21 years old and playing for Lyon.

Speaking in the past about signing Benzema at Manchester United in 2009, the legendary Scotsman said, via Mirror (h/t SportBible):

"We tried to spend [the Ronaldo money] on Karim Benzema as, at 21, I felt that there would be an improvement there. He is tough, good physique, and 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 £42million, it was beyond his value. We went to £35million and I think that was fair."

Benzema ultimately moved to Real Madrid for a fee of £35 million that summer, and the rest, as they say, is history. Manchester United, meanwhile, signed Mame Diouf, Antonio Valencia, Gabriel Obertan, and Michael Owen that summer to strengthen their attack.

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Pundit urges Manchester United to sign Karim Benzema

Former Manchester United striker Louis Saha believes Karim Benzema will guarantee goals if he completes a 'dream' transfer to Old Trafford.

Saha told AS (h/t Mirror):

"Benzema would change United's attack, and that's exactly what they need now. He would definitely score goals and also ensure better team play. For now it is just a dream, but Karim is still very professional."

Manchester United's goal-scoring issues are there for all to see, especially in the Premier League. They have scored just 24 goals in 21 league games this season – the lowest out of any team in the top 13 of the table.

Rasmus Hojlund, their £72 million summer signing from Atalanta, has netted just twice in 16 league matches. Star attacker Marcus Rashford, meanwhile, has netted just four times in 26 games across competitions for Erik ten Hag's side.

With Jadon Sancho also shipped out to Borussia Dortmund on loan this month, Manchester United are lighter in attack as compared to when they started the season.