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?
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.
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Comment 60 - 79 of 119
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.
First time comet here. A MAN U suppoter lietime with one wd thatsums up my attitude to the business of transfers...patience. Remember we didnt here about Rnaldo 6 years ago andlok is Leslie.
man ure really are losing it ! nobody wants to play for them anymore because they are a spent force,
lets face it, people are fed up with there arrogance, it must be s#?t being a man ure supporter at the moment,
no ronaldildo, no tevez, and their best striker is a scouser, HAHAHA !
oshaine, things change. Keep in mind that MU won the league title in '67 and went title-less until '93. Liverpool's fans probably made fun of MU back then for those 26 yrs. You may be making fun of Liverpool now. But nobody can predict the future. It may be you at the wrong end of the joke later. Respect your opponent.
He isn't worth this much fuss!!!
:-)
come on..is he worth teh fuss??
what happen during euro 2008??
he barely can't do anything..and he can't show himself up..
now he want to go to Real..come on..is he can compete with raul, nistelrooy n higuain..
i dont think he could adapt with Real style..why?? Man United already scouting him about two years now..still Lyon doesn't win the Ligue 1 this season..same goes to Real..does he worth the fuss???HUH!
Real Madrid can't succeed the way they are buying. To snap 3 world class players (egos) is not the right way. Everybody thinks that Real will be a superb team, but don't you think that they will have to work TOGETHER to win something. But egos like Ronaldo or Benzema are used to play only for themselves, especially Ronaldo. There must a team chemistry to succeed and I don't see that at Real. They must stop buying or next season they will finish 3-4 in LA Liga and will be knocked out in the group stage of the CL.
Johnny G u said it urself no prem titles in 18 years how the hell can u call yourselves the best in england thats the kinda logic that proves scousers R total idiots....
I agree that united missed out big time on benzema and im starting to think all that bull about SAF to decide how the money is spent is @#$% and the Glazer's need it more 4 their debts...i would love aguerro now but doubt its gonna happen and i would have pref benzema hes more of a goal poacher whereas aguero is a creator who like to roam a bit. In truth im getting a little annoyed with the bs and the lack of action
why they keep 80M in bank if they do not spend it? it is so strange, Manu actually needs a player like benzema. I do not think antonio valencia can do better than him
I think United missed out on the one of the most promising talent of this century. Benzema is pure class and he has a lot of similarities with Ronaldo (Brazil). He is a great finisher and he's also very physically strong. I expect Real Madrid to be a serious contender in la liga and the champions league as well. In conclusion I will say that Benzema definitely is well worth the £30 millions Real spent.
anyway, he officially joined real madrid..
what man utd going to do now?
maybe david villa is their next target i think
Well that’s that then, we don’t have to worry about Benzema anymore.
whats wrong united fans cant take a bit of honesty
you all know i am right just to scared to admit it but hey thanks for voting my post down just proves my point about united and ferguson
JOHNNYG2 Comment 50 - I agree. We can’t keep our stars. Ronaldo was a show pony but a genius show pony, and Ferguson’s to blame. Tevez called him ‘ a tired old man ‘. Colleen spends Wayne into debt and he’ll have to go to Real Madrid or Man City. See my post on page 2, Comments 19 and 20.
Comment 62 – Best Real Madrid XI _ If Robben qualifies then I can understand why you’re running around clutching at straws. Utd should give Berbatov a course of speed and when he scores 20 goals by Christmas ( should score 50 by season end ) you can have him for £60m. Vanistoroy – what’s he like? Never heard of him. Sounds a bit like van Nistelrooy. If you did mean van Nistelrooy…. Shows what an impression he’s made at Real Madrid if you can’t even remember his name.
It makes for an interesting Champion League. We were lucky to get to the final last season with lucky draws in the quarters and semis.
good point no 49. man utd fans, dont be sad. i think it is very clear that benzema is not interested in joining man utd. he said that before. nevermind. i believe that fergie will do his best to strengthen man utd. people forget that man utd have the likes of rooney and berbatov, exciting youth prospect like macheda and wellbeck. hope that rooney will play at the centre next season. he will score a lot of goals next season. be positive man utd fans!
took united long enough to catch us
didn,t it cabic 18 LEAGUE TITLES WE HAVE HAD 18 LEAGUE TITLES FOR OVER 18 YEARS AND WE ARE STILL THE MOST SUCCESSFUL TEAM IN ENGLAND
everyone knows you won the league this year with dodgy penalty decisions and late goals from unknown substitutes
well lets see how you fare this season without the show pony and tevez according to rooney he will take up the slack so that will be an extra 25/30 goals a season from him
don,t make me laugh
madrid are ruing football
and ur a liverpool fan... when was the last time u won a trophy???? hahaha
whats wrong united fans cant take a bit of honesty
you all know i am right just to scared to admit it but hey thanks for voting my post down just proves my point about united and ferguson
Best Real Madrid CF XI
Casillas
Ramos
Albiol
Cannavaro
Kaka
Snejder
Robb en
Van Der Vart
Ronaldo
Vanistoroy
Benzema
filip s... what can i say... ur a poom... if u have the impression pellegrini is a @#$% manager... have a second thought, POOM!
This is all paper talk. A club cannot buy a top striker every year, they have to value they ones they have too. Berbatov must play or be sold. If he's not a goal scorer than Man U buys one and sells him as the outer striker is Rooney. Or maybe it will be Rooney and Berbatov behind a main striker ? Benzema looks like a cross between Rooney and Berbatov to me so why would they go for him ? I am not a Man U fan but I think if they wanted to buy him they would have. I think Villa is more suited to the goal poacher they need but I am not sure he would come to England.
I think, swedish youngster Berg looks a much cheaper and interesting bet.
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