Former Newcastle United recruitment chief Tony Jimenez has claimed Kevin Keegan turned down the chance to sign Karim Benzema during his time in charge.

Responding to Keegan's autobiography account of his tumultuous second spell at Newcastle in 2008, Jimenez claims the manager rejected the opportunity to sign a number of prominent players.

It comes after Keegan wrote that Jimenez blocked an attempt to sign Luka Modric from Dinamo Zagreb because he considered the Croatian 'too lightweight' for the Premier League.

Kevin Keegan 'turned down the chance to sign Karim Benzema' when manager of Newcastle United in 2008, according to the club's then recruitment chief Tony Jimenez

France striker Benzema, now at Real Madrid, was apparently one of a number of high-profile players Keegan turned down when in his second spell managing Newcastle

Jimenez hit back in an interview with The Times, saying Newcastle turned down Modric because owner Mike Ashley baulked at Dinamo's asking price of £16million and didn't want to pay the price.

He goes on to claim Keegan didn't want to sign the likes of Benzema, Hatem Ben Arfa, Samir Nasri, Daniel Sturridge, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe and Lassana Diarra.

Instead, according to Jimenez, the former England boss wanted the likes of David Beckham, Frank Lampard, Ronaldinho and Kaka at an eye-watering transfer value of £400m.

He said: 'The moment you questioned him he lost the plot. During that window we offered him the players that we were working on when we thought Harry Redknapp was coming as manager - Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch, Lassana Diarra - and he said none of them were good enough.

'The other player we were really keen on was Daniel Sturridge. He said he'd had him as a kid at Man City and that he wasn't good enough for League One.

Keegan started his second spell as Newcastle manager in January 2008 - but things quickly turned sour under the Ashley regime

Left to right: Club chairman Chris Mort with Jeff Vetere, Dennis Wise and Tony Jimenez in 2008

'He didn't want Hatem Ben Arfa or Karim Benzema either. We asked Kevin for a list of players for every position, bearing in mind he had £25million to spend. Our list included Benzema and Ben Arfa, who were young players at Lyon, as well as Samir Nasri.

'Kevin took one look and called them all chancers. His list was David Beckham, Frank Lampard, Ronaldinho, Kaka, among others. We added their transfer value up and it was £399m, plus £100m in wages.'

Jimenez admits he had a tempestuous relationship with Keegan from the very start, with the manager even throwing a tantrum at his interview for the job.

He told The Times: 'Kevin was told at the interview that this is the job, these are the financial constraints - don't take it if you don't want it.

Daniel Sturridge, now at Liverpool, was another player Keegan rejected, according to Jimenez

Newcastle owner Mike Ashley watches their draw with Crystal Palace last weekend

'Go back to Glasgow and run your Soccer Circus rather than creating a circus in Newcastle, which is what he did. He just said 'yes' to get the job.

'Kevin was a great player but lives in a time-warp. He played in an era when the top managers ran every aspect of football clubs and thinks his status in the game means he should have the same control.

'He didn't understand that it doesn't work like that anymore. Perhaps God had given him so much talent in his feet that he'd taken something else away?'

Keegan maintained 'the truth is in the book' when told about Jimenez's claims.