Sir Alex Ferguson explains how close Manchester United were to signing Karim Benzema

Sir Alex Ferguson attempted to sign Real Madrid's Karim Benzema for Manchester United while the Frenchman was at Lyon.

Over the years Benzema has proven himself to be a world class striker and impressed hugely in Madrid's 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night, hitting a hat-trick. The Frenchman is showing no signs of slowing down, now having back to back hat-tricks in the Champions League.

And one person who will not be shocked by the striker's continued success will be Ferguson — a long-time admirer of Benzema's abilities. In 2008, Rio Ferdinand recalled that Ferguson tracked a 20-year-old Benzema down in the tunnel after he scored against United in a Champions League match while at Lyon. Benzema eventually left France for Madrid in 2009 and Ferguson has previously stated how close they came to bringing the talented forward to Old Trafford.

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As per the Daily Express, he explained: "We tried to spend [the Cristiano Ronaldo money] on Karim Benzema as, at 21, I felt that there would be an improvement there. 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."

Michael Owen eventually joined United in 2009 instead from Newcastle but Ferguson had already made it clear to the England legend that he was second choice. Owen told BT Sport: "The first time I got a call off Sir Alex, he was dead honest.

"He said, 'We’re trying to sign Benzema. If we don’t get him, you’re second choice'."

Since joining Real, Benzema has scored 316 goals in 595 appearances. How different the