Ferguson reveals he could have signed Raul from Real

Red Devils boss has maintained that he could have signed the all-time top scorer in the Champions League, but did not do so since he already had Michael Owen . Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that he could have signed Raul before the forward decided to make a move to Schalke. The veteran forward left Real Madrid last summer, and the Scot insists that the player's agent held talks with the club at the time. But despite being "a bit tempted", the ageing manager chose not to sign the all-time top scorer in the Champions League. Now, however, the two teams lock horns in Germany on Tuesday, in the first leg of the semi-final double-header. "Raul’s agent spoke to us when his time at Real had come to an end and I was a bit tempted because you say to yourself he’s not too old to score a goal in the Premier League," he said, according to The Mirror. "He had a fantastic career at Madrid and players like that always find something in terms of ambition. They don’t just wither away. He still had plenty to do. But we had Michael Owen as an experienced player, as well as Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney plus we had signed Javier Hernandez. "If I hadn’t got Michael Owen I might have been tempted." Sir Alex is also wary of the threat that Schalke striker Raul possesses, ahead of the Champions League clash between the two sides. He said "Raul’s got a fantastic goal record - 71 goals in the Champions League is an incredible record. I hope it stays at 71 for the next two weeks! "You’ve always got to be careful with him in the last third ­because he’s still got intelligence and all that experience."