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Transfers - Your view: Benzema worth the fuss?

Eurosport - Thu, 02 Jul 09:39:00 2009

Real Madrid have won the battle with Manchester United to sign Karim Benzema from Lyon, but is he worth the fuss and £30 million plus?

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Lyon - Benzema - 0

Certainly the statistics suggest he is. Seventeen goals in 36 Ligue 1 games last season, off the back of 20 in the same number of outings the previous campaign.

Cynics may point out that Ligue 1 is a far cry from La Liga, but he has succeeded at the highest level too - nine goals in 15 Champions League games during the same two-year period proves that.

That kind of scoring record indicates the boy is a bit special in front of goal and, considering he is just 21, he still has his best years ahead of him - quite a scary thought.

Add power and pace to his scoring prowess and he appears to have all the attributes to succeed in Spain.

But questions remain over his temperament with whispers in France suggesting he can be a disruptive influence in the dressing room.

His fractious relationship with former team-mate Hatem Ben Arfa was widely recognised and Thierry Henry is rumoured to have clashed with him over a seat on the France team bus.

Have United missed out on a potentially world-class talent or have they done the right thing in leaving it to Madrid?

Will he be yet another unmanageable ego in the Bernabeu dressing room or could he be Madrid's star striker for years to come?

And who should United go for now?

What do you think?

Have your say below or on the message threads via the link underneath the photo.

Eurosport

Comment 80 - 99 of 119

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  1. rip jackson you know nothing you stupid p.r.i.c.k. i­ suspect you are a scummy pool supporter the top fouR in­ england hardly ever attract players from abroad it is­ because theY do not like the english culture anD the­ tax rates at the end of the day liverfools are the­ embarresement of the football league getting the rest­ of england band for europe being the most self deluded­ fans the FACTS ARE Oyou HAVE WON NOTHING FOR THREE­ YEARS AND MAN UNITED ARE PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS FOR­ THREE YEARS RUNNING WE ARE BETTER THEN YOU YOU ARE DIRT­ AND EUROPE FROWNS ON YOUR DISGUSTING BEHAVIUOR

    From reddevils_4life99, on Thu 2 Jul 1:49PM

  2. rip jackson you know nothing you stupid p.r.i.c.k. i­ suspect you are a scummy pool supporter the top fouR in­ england hardly ever attract players from abroad it is­ because theY do not like the english culture anD the­ tax rates at the end of the day liverfools are the­ embarresement of the football league getting the rest­ of england band for europe being the most self deluded­ fans the FACTS ARE Oyou HAVE WON NOTHING FOR THREE­ YEARS AND MAN UNITED ARE PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS FOR­ THREE YEARS RUNNING WE ARE BETTER THEN YOU YOU ARE DIRT­ AND EUROPE FROWNS ON YOUR DISGUSTING BEHAVIUOR

    From reddevils_4life99, on Thu 2 Jul 1:49PM

  3. id prefare aguero, benzema wasn't the no.1 stricker­ in france last year so nothing suggests he will be in­ england but then again i don't know much about­ aguero. i'll leave it up to ferguson to make up for­ what he did in the fa cup semi final this year

    From SimonO, on Thu 2 Jul 12:46PM

  4. Benzema is a great player, I rate him highly and­ he's got the potential to become the best striker­ in the world! 30M is the right price and for those who­ say he's overpriced just look at the amounts­ english clubs pay for average players (Berbatov -over­ 30M, Keane 20M, Bent 16M etc). Man Utd will have to go­ after second rate players like Valencia coz none of the­ topclass footballers wants to join them and I don't­ blame them!!!!

    From James, on Thu 2 Jul 12:02PM

  5. At todays prices Benzema is an absolute bargain; To­ think he cost the same as the overpriced Berbatov­ !
    This player is the only young striker at the moment­ who can challenge F.Torres as the best out and out­ Cent.Forward in the world. Similar to Torres he is­ tall, V.Fast, good in air , on the floor, scores the­ simple goals and spectacular goals, he makes goals for­ others, and most important he runs at the center halfs­ and goes past defenders. At 21 he can improve and be­ the best cent forward or possibly even the best player­ in the world ! To think Man Utd Identified Torres­ years before Liverpool and didnt sign him, Benzema­ years ago and didnt sign him. I think the best option­ left for Utd is to go for the Brazil Youngster Douglas.­ Yes it is a risk but after losing Ronaldo Tevez and­ now the Benzema signing, anything else will be a let­ down.

    From seanst2003, on Thu 2 Jul 11:30AM

  6. United were following his progress no doubt. But, they­ never bid for him with Lyon. All the hype of a big­ offer from a club other than Real was nothing but an­ attempt to get the best deal. Fair enough. But if­ United did not bid for him, why should there be­ misconceptions that United had missed out on a star?

    From puniverse, on Thu 2 Jul 11:16AM

  7. Sergio Aguero should be our next and only target. I­ guess 30m pounds will be the right price for aguero.­ United should bid for Iniesta, ronaldinhio or Gago to­ strengthen our supply line. Our midfield was the reason­ for our 2-0 routing by barcelona in the champ league­ final. we have enough strike power upfront in rooney­ and berbatov. Rooney is gonna be the new player of the­ year in all the competition wheras berbatov is the best­ finsiher on the planet. Rooney, berbatov and aguero­ with iniesta or ronaldinhio for feed and champions­ league, here we come again

    From HAMMAD, on Thu 2 Jul 10:50AM

  8. Man Utd have King Berba, don't they? He's world­ class, I suppose? Hahaaa. 35mil pounds for a new­ stricker? I guess Berba cost that much and he can't­ be offloaded cos no one wants him. Terrible situation­ to be in.(both Man Utd and Berba).

    From Ian, on Thu 2 Jul 10:36AM

  9. MANCHESTER UNITED ARE THE BEST CLUB ON THIS PLANET AT­ THIS POINT IN TIME, SIR ALEX IS THE BEST AND HE'LL­ PULL SOMETHING OUT OF THE HAT ....WATCH THIS SPACE,­ SILLY, JEALOUS SCOUSERS......

    From ian a, on Thu 2 Jul 10:25AM

  10. kawasaki kid
    Have you been smoking those jamaican roll­ ups again?spent force my A**e

    From adrian.dennis2486, on Thu 2 Jul 10:24AM

  11. Dont need him french league only equivalent to­ championship side real madrid trying to make a point­ and suceeding very easy when money is no object to take­ everyones decent players however does not mean success­ too many premadonnas in a team is a bad thing everyone­ else makes there players what they are real do nothing­ they just spend loads of money on the finished article­ there is only one team in spain and thats barcelona we­ will see at the end of the season, as for utd loosing­ ronaldo i think they have more than enough in there­ locker to chalenge on all fronts next season no point­ paying silly money for a player who is always looking­ to play in spain history tells us that the last players­ we offloaded to real madrid did not exactly set the­ place alight fergie has a knack of offloading players­ at the right time ronaldo will be missed to a certain­ extent but i for one will not miss his booing and­ crying wonder how popular that will be in spain

    From adrian.dennis2486, on Thu 2 Jul 10:22AM

  12. Has anyone really watched him before? The guy isn't­ that good. He's just ok.

    From Ian, on Thu 2 Jul 10:21AM

  13. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! im glad that­ benzema choose madrid coz that just ruined united plans­ yet again an now there isnt any player out there that­ is gonna choose united over a team like madrid

    From Stephen H, on Thu 2 Jul 9:43AM

  14. FORLAN IS THE ONE TO RETURN TO OLD TRAFFORD FOR ME
    See­ comments 19 & 20

    Aaahhh….Ronaldo and van­ Nistelrooy. I’d forgotten about their tempestuous love­ affair. By the way, who dumped who?

    It’s a pity Ruud­ is 33 with messed up knees. Scored 10 in 12 games last­ season but didn’t play for almost the whole season.­ Forlan’s 30.
    Let's go for Gignac and put Berbatov­ on speed.

    From fraserdigby, on Thu 2 Jul 9:17AM

  15. FORLAN IS THE ONE TO RETURN TO OLD TRAFFORD FOR ME

    From chris d, on Thu 2 Jul 8:33AM

  16. I cant wait to see how Ruud and Ronaldo get off­ ,,,they F@#king hate each other.........

    From chris d, on Thu 2 Jul 8:29AM

  17. Lyon had only receved one bid late last night for­ Benzema. Assume that means RM. Tends to confirm comment­ that if we had wanted the lest we would have done is­ tabled a bid. Dont you think? I am convinced that­ Berbatov and Rooney will be a revalation this year.

    From Leslie, on Thu 2 Jul 8:27AM

  18. Lyon had only receved one bid late last night for­ Benzema. Assume that means RM. Tends to confirm comment­ that if we had wanted the lest we would have done is­ tabled a bid. Dont you think? I am convinced that­ Berbatov and Rooney will be a revalation this year.

    From Leslie, on Thu 2 Jul 8:26AM

  19. Man Utd a spent force?

    My arse.....the only reason­ players are going to Real is the tax or should i say­ the lack of...all uk clubs will have trouble singing­ top players for this reason....lets not forget Chelsea,­ Arsenal, liverpool and manchester shity are struggling­ to get top players.surely Real are breaking EU laws by­ letting players not pay tax...lets face it we all have­ to pay tax so why should players be any different. i,m­ a united fan and hope we win the champions league next­ year but having said that i would get great­ satisfaction in seeing liverpool or Chelsea win if we­ don't get to the final...Anyone other Real win­ would be Fantastic for me...they are ruining the game­ with all this galacticos @#$%...my money is on Real­ winning F@#k all next term and i feel you all would­ agree.

    From chris d, on Thu 2 Jul 8:24AM

  20. Anybody know of a developing talent in midfield like an­ Iniesta? Would love Fabregas but of course will not­ happen.

    From Leslie, on Thu 2 Jul 8:21AM
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