Manchester United great Rio Ferdinand admits he urged his old club to sign Everton defender Ben Godfrey.

The 23-year-old was a deadline-day signing for the Toffees from Norwich City, helping them sit three points off a European spot under Carlo Ancelotti.

Ferdinand said on his Youtube channel: “Anyone had a chance to sign him because Norwich were going to let him go.

“Listen, I told you before I'd spoken to various people at different clubs, United being one of them as well.

“They could've had Ben when he was about 12 or 15 mil, when he just went to Norwich. He'd been there about half a season or a season. But listen, there's so many players we could look at and say, they were missed at that point and they had to pay more.

“That's just life, that's part of it, and there's different judges. 99 people can judge a player and not like him and one just says, 'bang, he's for me'.

“It's just that I've seen these boys grow so I know what's under their bonnet. I know what they're carrying in their toolbox."