Center back by trade Brazilian footballer Rio Ferdinand has revealed that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has always regretted not being able to sign Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema to the club.

Benzema's 12th Champions League goal of the season helped Madrid lose 3-2 to Chelsea in the second leg of their quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday, according to Ferdinand. No matter how badly they lost in the match, Benzema's first-half extra-time goal sealed Madrid's 5-4 aggregate victory and a trip to the semi-finals.

Last week, the Frenchman scored a hat-trick in the first-leg of their Champions League match at Stamford Bridge. He now has seven goals in his last three Champions League games. This season, he has scored 38 goals in 38 games, despite just turning 34.

As of this writing, he has scored 317 goals for Barcelona since joining the club from Lyon in 2009. However, if United and Ferguson had gotten their hands on him, his career might have taken a different turn.

Sir Alex Ferguson's desire to acquire the striker has been explained by Ferdinand. But he preferred a move to Barcelona over Manchester United's formal offer.

In an interview with BT Sport, Ferdinand explained: "2008 marked the first time I came up against him in a competitive setting, and it was also the first time I had seen him in person. In the goal he scored against us, you can see how many people were surrounding him, but he only required one touch, and it was all completed in a single movement.

""Don't worry, I'm trying to catch him," Sir Alex Ferguson said to me when I came off the field. But he chose them because of his African connections and the clout that Real Madrid had.

On Tuesday, Karim Benzema saved Real Madrid from Chelsea.

"I feel Sir Alex will look back and regret not signing him."

Aulas revealed in 2019 that United outbid Madrid for Benzema's services. His heart was set on joining the 13-time European winners.

Aulas told beIN Sports in 2019: "We had two offers when Karim was asked to leave Lyon: Manchester United and Real Madrid." In the same way Nabil Fekir came to visit me, Karam told me his desire was to play for Real Madrid.

"So he went to Real Madrid for a lower fee than we got from Man U."