Rio Ferdinand tried to persuade Sir Alex Ferguson to sign ex-Sunderland and West Ham striker

The 39-year-old announced last month that he would not be seeing out the season with Sunderland, after making an emotional return to the club on deadline day in January.

Defoe’s decision has left the Black Cats short of attacking options, yet he has spoken about not blocking the pathway of players coming back from injury.

Nathan Broadhead, who has been sidelined with a hamstring issue, came off the bench for Sunderland to score a stoppage-time winner against Gillingham at the Stadium of Light.

Speaking about Defoe, however, former England teammate Ferdinand revealed he’d spoken to Ferguson about the possibility of Manchester United signing the striker.

"I had quite a few conversations with Sir Alex Ferguson during our time at United and he used to go who is the hardest player to play against,” Ferdinand revealed on his Vibe with Five Podcast.

"He used to go, I can't get him out there or I couldn't get him out of there. The timings wasn't there.”

Speaking about a the subject, Defoe added: “When people say do you regret anything, I say no, I'm just grateful for everything that I've done.

“I have always said I would have loved to have played for United. To be in that sort of environment with those winners, I've always said that, and because of the way I am I would have gone to the next level.

“I would have been leaving the training ground at 5pm, I would have done everything.”

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