Man Utd deadline day transfer: Ten Hag urged to turn 'fantasy' deal ...

Former Manchester United forward Louis Saha has urged the club to turn a “fantasy” move for Karim Benzema into reality as the transfer deadline nears.

Benzema has been heavily linked with a short-term return to European football throughout the January transfer window, a matter of months after leaving Real Madrid for Saudi Arabia club Al-Ittihad.

Reports earlier this month suggested Benzema was Premier League-bound with Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea all linked with moves for the 36-year-old former France international.

Saha, who scored 28 goals in 86 appearances for Manchester United between 2004 and 2008, believes Benzema remains one of the best strikers in the world.

And he has urged his former club to capitalise on any opportunity to bring him to Old Trafford.

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He told Betfred: “Before his move to Saudi Arabia, this move would have been considered a fantasy. There are not many players with his profile, his experience and his understanding for scoring goals.

“Karim is still one of the best strikers in the world and has been one of the best for many, many years.

“If you put this on the table, then it is possible. You need to know whether the player is interested in the move or not and the club needs to come to a solution that makes sense.

“Ultimately, I believe it could be a great move and when it comes to a forward that can link up with his fellow players, then nobody’s better at that than Karim.

“Manchester United needs to believe that they can attract any player and this is why the need for a sporting director is so important because they need to understand the motivation of a prospective signing and it needs to be a match for what they want to achieve.”

Benzema has been frequently linked with a move to Manchester United over the course of his illustrious career, with former manager Sir Alex Ferguson revealing that he planned to spend the then-world-record fee received for Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid in 2009 on Benzema.

However, Benzema went on to join Ronaldo in Madrid later that summer, arriving from Lyon in a €35m deal.

Ferguson said: “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, 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.”