Gary Neville names the player Sir Alex Ferguson broke his golden transfer rule for at Man United

Gary Neville has revealed Sir Alex Ferguson once asked his Manchester United defenders whether they would advocate a move for Louis Saha.

The former France international swapped Craven Cottage for Old Trafford in January 2004. He would spend four-and-a-half years at United, winning two Premier League titles, the Champions League and the League Cup before moving to Everton in 2008.

Saha faced United six times before making the switch to Old Trafford and Neville has revealed Sir Alex Ferguson asked his defenders whether they would recommend a move for the French striker after a clash with the Cottagers.

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"Sir Alex never asked us which players we should sign or never asked us information about players he was going to sign," Neville told Sky Sports of his former boss. "But after we played Fulham one time in the FA Cup, he actually asked us as defenders, would we sign Louis Saha? We all said 'yes' straight away."

Saha scored 42 goals in 124 appearances for the Reds, striking up a partnership with Wayne Rooney. Injury issues plagued his time at Old Trafford, but Neville described the former Fulham striker as a 'brilliant player' when fit and available.

"I remember the season where he was playing up front with Wazza in 2006 and it was unbelievable; they were fantastic together," the former United captain added.

"Louis was a brilliant, brilliant player. He gave me absolute nightmares when I used to play against him when he played for Fulham - him and Luis Boa Morte."