QPR boss Harry Redknapp admits he attempted to sign Manchester United pair Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

The Loftus Road chief, who snapped up Chris Samba from Anzhi, admits he recommended the United duo to chairman Tony Fernandes.

He remarked: "Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, John Terry, Chris Samba - that was as far as it went. He said: 'Not that we're going to get any of them'. It was only us sitting and having a laugh and talking. Then he said to me, 'I'm close to getting one of the defenders'…I thought it can't be Rio or Vidic, and he tells me it's Samba. That's how the deal went."