Madrid leave United reeling after hijacking Benzema
MANCHESTER United suffered another major blow after Real Madrid sensationally hijacked their deal to sign Karim Benzema.
Link copiedBookmark
Karim Benzema is joing Real Madrid
The 21-year-old who been linked with a move to United all summer is set to sign for the Spanish giants after Lyon accepted a £30m offer for the player.
The news will come as major setback to United manager Sir Alex Ferguson who has already lost Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid.
A Lyon statement said: “A few days ago Karim informed the club president Jean Michel Aulas of his desire to move to the Madrid club, which had always been his favourite club after Lyon, earlier than he had foreseen.”
Benzema still has to agree personal terms with the Spanish giants, but
given that Lyon only accepted the bid because the player made it clear
he wanted to move to the Bernabeu, those talks appear a mere formality.
And if the deal goes through it will take their summer spending to a whopping £180m.
It now means Ferguson will be left scrambling around the world for two new forwards to replace Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez - who has also left the club - a week before the squad return for pre-season training.
United have only Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney as main strikers with Federico Macheda and Danny Welbeck still unproven.
David Villa is one option, but Valencia are reluctant to sell, even at £40m, and the Spain star has made no secret of the fact he wants to stay in his home country.
Franck Ribery is still being courted though he does not have a prolific scoring record even if United can fight off more interest from Real for the French winger.
That leaves Toulouse striker Andre-Pierre Gignac as a realistic option – though after one impressive season in which he scored 24 goals there are still doubts over whether he has the pedigree to be a top class forward.
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our Privacy Policy