HE is coming...

KARIM BENZEMA could be on his way to Manchester United - at a knockdown price.

Old Trafford boss Sir Alex Ferguson made the striker his No 1 target last summer but would not meet Lyon's £25million valuation.

Instead, Benzema went to Real Madrid though he has not made a big impact with the Spanish giants.

His seven goals in 19 games have not been enough for Real president Florentino Perez, who wants Valencia's David Villa to replace the French ace in the summer.

According to Spanish sources, Benzema can go for around £18m but United will face competition from AC and Inter Milan.

A move to Inter would pave the way for Manchester City target Mario Balotelli to move to Eastlands.

Ok so it is a total non story and won't happen - BUT - this is good enough for me to get giddy anyway.

Originally Posted by koppas

Ok so it is a total non story and won't happen - BUT - this is good enough for me to get giddy anyway.

yey

Dead chuffed for you mate.

Originally Posted by captain scarlet

Dead chuffed for you mate.

We should all be chuffed. King Karim is about to sit on his throne.

So now we're taking Real's cast-offs while they go and get Villa ...I'd rather we got Balotelli ourselves .

Originally Posted by Liu Jian

So now we're taking Real's cast-offs while they go and get Villa ...I'd rather we got Balotelli ourselves .

Benzema would be a better signing than Villa.

Vidic plus cash if we play it cute.

forget that.

Originally Posted by koppas

We should all be chuffed. King Karim is about to sit on his throne.

And you will sit at his right hand mate if there is any justice in this world.

Originally Posted by koppas

Benzema would be a better signing than Villa.

Villa's the better player at the moment.

Benzema's looked a bit like a donkey at times in Madrid. And Inter won't go for him - they've got Eto'o, Milito and Pandev (plus Balotelli who they want to keep).

Pato is better than Benzema too. Just aswell Rio's back for Milan cos he would rip Brown to shreds.

Originally Posted by Liu Jian

So now we're taking Real's cast-offs while they go and get Villa ...I'd rather we got Balotelli ourselves .

if real take vidic - we're a feeder club
if we take benzema - we're taking cast-offs

think you meant he is coming.......BACK


viva Ronaldo

Originally Posted by borsuk

if real take vidic - we're a feeder club
if we take benzema - we're taking cast-offs

I could live with that!

Originally Posted by Liu Jian

Villa's the better player at the moment.

Benzema's looked a bit like a donkey at times in Madrid. And Inter won't go for him - they've got Eto'o, Milito and Pandev (plus Balotelli who they want to keep).

Pato is better than Benzema too. Just aswell Rio's back for Milan cos he would rip Brown to shreds.

a) Better at the moment, yes. Benzema is only 22.

b) Looked like a donkey?

c) What the £#%&! does Pato have to do with anything you clown?

btw, i can't see real letting benzema go.

8 goals and 4 assists in 19 games isn't bad going and he's actually played well for them when i've seen him. besides, letting him go for a knock-down price would be a huge loss of face for perez. the only way it might be done is via a player exchange. and for us a left winger and a box-to-box midfielder are surely priorities unless berbatov is shown the door.

i think kaka has been a much bigger problem than benzema, they don't seem to have a clue how to accommodate him at all.

Originally Posted by borsuk

if real take vidic - we're a feeder club
if we take benzema - we're taking cast-offs

I think the difference is that if Benzema was their best player they wouldn't sell him but if he was our best player, they'd probably make a move for him. The only players at Real we have a hope of signings are ones where the player has failed to live up to expectations.

Originally Posted by Spiffy

I think the difference is that if Benzema was their best player they wouldn't sell him but if he was our best player, they'd probably make a move for him. The only players at Real we have a hope of signings are ones where the player has failed to live up to expectations.

are they signing rooney? evra? carrick? fletcher? rio? valencia? because those are our best players

and that's without even mentioning vds, scholes, giggs etc.


anyway, like i said. benzema isn't going anywhere.

Originally Posted by borsuk

are they signing rooney? evra? carrick? fletcher? rio? valencia? because those are our best players

and that's without even mentioning vds, scholes, giggs etc.


anyway, like i said. benzema isn't going anywhere.

Agreed. Not for a couple of year, at least.

the point most people just can't seem to grasp is that nationality and culture have a huge amount to do with it. real and barca will always be favourable destinations for spanish/portuguese/south american players, english clubs will always have a disadvantage there. united (and english clubs generally) are more than capable of competing for the best dutch, french, german and italian players.

players like lampard, rooney, gerrard, rio, terry, a cole, giggs, scholes, neville, keane, robson etc etc - you can go on as long as you like, of course, would be huge successes anywhere. but, generally, they stay in england because they're english speakers and the culture is familiar, their kids are brought up here etc. it's nothing to do with feeder clubs etc.

there are exceptions, of course, but it's pretty straightforward 90% of the time. footballers who want to spend their whole career in a foreign culture are fairly rare, and they generally come from countries with pretty poor home leagues. players like fabregas and ronaldo are the exception - and there are more exceptions in the premier league than in la liga, btw.

Originally Posted by borsuk

the point most people just can't seem to grasp is that nationality and culture have a huge amount to do with it. real and barca will always be favourable destinations for spanish/portuguese/south american players, english clubs will always have a disadvantage there. united (and english clubs generally) are more than capable of competing for the best dutch, french, german and italian players.

players like lampard, rooney, gerrard, rio, terry, a cole, giggs, scholes, neville, keane, robson etc etc - you can go on as long as you like, of course, would be huge successes anywhere. but, generally, they stay in england because they're english speakers and the culture is familiar, their kids are brought up here etc. it's nothing to do with feeder clubs etc.

there are exceptions, of course, but it's pretty straightforward 90% of the time. footballers who want to spend their whole career in a foreign culture are fairly rare, and they generally come from countries with pretty poor home leagues. players like fabregas and ronaldo are the exception - and there are more exceptions in the premier league than in la liga, btw.

Well King Karim is French so, therefore, he should be coming to England whether he likes it or not.

Originally Posted by borsuk

are they signing rooney? evra? carrick? fletcher? rio? valencia? because those are our best players

and that's without even mentioning vds, scholes, giggs etc.


anyway, like i said. benzema isn't going anywhere.

Woo, get you.
I was merely pointing out that we would have no chance of signing Real's best players but they do have a chance of signing our best players. When Beckham left us what chance would we have had if we'd wanted say Raul or Zidane? None at all.

HTH.