Former Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards has revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson "rejected the chance to sign Zinedine Zidane".

The legendary Red Devils manager was made aware of Zidane during the mid-1990s, when the young Frenchman was still with Bordeaux.

However, Ferguson opted not to move for the 22-year-old because he preferred Eric Cantona in the number 10 position at Old Trafford.

Edwards told the official United site: "When Zidane was at Bordeaux, Les Kershaw, the chief scout, was telling me we should be interested in him and I mentioned it to Alex.

"Alex said that Eric [Cantona] had also mentioned Zidane to him but Alex felt Zidane played in the same position as Eric.

"Having gone over to France to persuade Eric to re-sign for us, after the Crystal Palace incident, he felt that, if he had brought Zidane in, it may have affected Eric's position, so he stuck with Eric."

Zidane went on to play for Juventus before joining Real Madrid in a then-world record deal.