THE COMPANY was good and food “terrific” but the vintage is what was most savoured by Sir Alex Ferguson. Not wine – though that, too, was special – but the intoxicant Ferguson enjoys above others. Young football talent. It always makes him giddy. Now Ferguson has seen for himself the latest prodigies to emerge from Lyons, he is both cautious and covetous. Manchester United must beware Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa on Wednesday. Longer term, they may buy at least one.

It is rare Ferguson admits anything regarding his transfer objectives, but he cannot help conceding Benzema interests him. The 20-year-old, either “the new Zidane”, “new Platini” or “new Henry”, depending on who is cooing about him, is seen as the striker United need to complete their attack. Ferguson was in the Stade Gerland last Saturday to see Benzema score his 25th goal of the season and play with the strength, speed and two-footed versatility that has every major club in Europe making inquiries. The man fielding them is Lyons’s savvy president, Jean-Michel Aulas, who never gets less than top euro when he sells a player and though United are already rumoured to have offered £21m, Aulas prices Benzema close to £30m.

Ferguson was Aulas’s guest, at a game won 4-1 by Lyons, top of the league and chasing their seventh consecutive French championship. “The president’s hospitality was wonderful, the food was terrific, the wine even better,” said Ferguson. “We never discussed any footballers.” He owned up, though, to the fact that Benzema is “a possibility” – short of an actual bid, as strong a declaration he wants a player that Ferguson will ever make. “It [striker] is an area we tried to strengthen last summer and I don’t think that’s left us. I have big hopes for [Danny] Welbeck and he’s progressing well but he’s young. And we have [Frazier] Campbell coming back who has done well at Hull, but he’s young as well,” said Ferguson. “Benzema is only 20 and Ben Arfa is also 20. Lyons produce young players and Benzema is a local boy, which I’m sure gives them pride.”

Ben Arfa, a subtle left-winger of French-Tunisian extraction, is also linked with United but Benzema is more a priority. He is another of north African descent, one of nine children born to Algerian immigrants who settled in the tough Lyons neighbourhood of Bron. In October, Benzema scored at the Gerland in front of another admirer, Arsène Wenger, and Arsenal are also thought to want him, but so are Real Madrid, Milan, Barcelona and Chelsea. Benzema has said “Milan are my dream club” but he is polite and he was speaking to Gazetta Dello Sport. He added: “I also like the big squads such as Juventus, Inter Milan and Manchester United.”

Benzema has promised not to leave Lyons until they are European champions. “I believe we are going to win the Champions League this year. Against Manchester United we have to be able to handle the pressure and keep a clean sheet. It’s doable,” he said. His self-belief is natural, for excellence comes so easily to him. On his Lyons debut, aged 17, he created a goal with his first touch and on his France debut required eight minutes to score his first international goal. He is contracted until 2012 but Aulas is king of an auction. He said last week he would sell Benzema or Ben Arfa to United, but only one of them, and only for Cristiano Ronaldo plus cash.

“The president is a very clever man. He’s so clever he can sell midfield players for £20m. That’s amazing,” Ferguson said, referring to the hard bargain Aulas drove when Real Madrid bought Mahamadou Diarra in 2006. “That [Jeremy] Toulalan he bought from Nantes just sits and does the same job Diarra did. When they sold Michael Essien [to Chelsea, for £24.4m], they took Tiago then sold Tiago to Juventus for £6m. Eric Abidal, £10m for a left back [when he moved to Barcelona]. They’re a well-run club.

“It won’t be an easy game but the tie will be decided at Old Trafford in the second leg,” said Ferguson, likely to give Ryan Giggs his 100th Champions League outing.

One reason for wanting Benzema is United’s reliance on Rooney. All five of this season’s defeats came when Rooney was not playing. “He’s an important player. He’s different from everybody else. I remember coming here and they said United couldn’t win without Bryan Robson and it became a sort of paranoia around the team. It’s the same today. You can win without Wayne, given our squad, but if he’d played in those games we lost I don’t think we’d have lost,” said Ferguson. “It’s not coincidental but you can’t allow that to be cast in stone.”