Rio Ferdinand believes Arjen Robben chose a move to Chelsea over Manchester United in part because of the 'smell' of the Carrington training ground.

Speaking about his time as a player during an Instagram Q&A, Ferdinand opened up on his admiration of Robben, who was a central figure in a Chelsea side that won two Premier League titles, two League Cups and the FA Cup under Jose Mourinho.

'What a player. Robben was great,' Ferdinand purred. 'We should have signed him at Man United.

Speaking on Instagram, Rio Ferdinand has opened up on wanting Arjen Robben at United

Ferdinand claimed Robben disliked 'the smell' of United's Carrington training base

Robben played 106 times for Chelsea, scoring 19 goals and providing 22 assists for the club

‘I think he came to the training ground. He walked around and didn’t like the smell and walked off and went Chelsea. I couldn’t believe it, man. He would have been great for us.’

Robben played 106 times for Chelsea after joining from PSV Eindhoven for £12million in 2004, scoring 19 goals and providing 22 assists for Mourinho's first major Chelsea side.

'You knew he was going to come back in on his left but the left-back couldn’t deal with it,' Ferdinand said. 'He’d be saying, “I’m going to come in on my left, you’re not gonna stop me”. And they didn’t.'

Yet despite his praise for Robben, Ferdinand still believes that Ryan Giggs was better than him in his prime.

'Giggsy was an unbelievable footballer,' Ferdinand said. 'Left wing, into centre midfielder by the end of his career. Great footballer. Great, great footballer.

'I’d have to go for Giggys you know. Robben was nasty though.'

Ferdinand said Robben was 'nasty' to play against and defenders were helpless against him

At Bayern Munich, Robben won right league titles as well as the 2013 Champions League

Robben departed Chelsea in 2008 for Real Madrid, spending two years in Spain before moving on to a trophy-laden tenure with Bayern Munich in Germany.

He won an astonishing eight Bundesliga titles with Bayern, as well as the 2013 Champions League final.

In July 2019, after 309 games and 144 goals for Bayern, Robben announced his retirement from football.