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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 60 - 79 of 119

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  1. 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 8:19AM
  2. 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.

    From Leslie, on Thu 2 Jul 8:18AM
  3. 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 !

    From Bike 69, mabaho ka !, on Thu 2 Jul 7:51AM
  4. 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.

    From elson l, on Thu 2 Jul 7:51AM
  5. He isn't worth this much fuss!!!

    :-)

    From Lewis, on Thu 2 Jul 7:43AM
  6. 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!

    From ae86_oldskool, on Thu 2 Jul 7:37AM
  7. 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.

    From Petko G, on Thu 2 Jul 6:43AM
  8. 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

    From oshaine, on Thu 2 Jul 6:41AM
  9. 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

    From First L, on Thu 2 Jul 6:19AM
  10. 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.

    From Achieve, on Thu 2 Jul 6:07AM
  11. anyway, he officially joined real madrid..
    what man utd­ going to do now?
    maybe david villa is their next target­ i think

    From Skunk, on Thu 2 Jul 5:28AM
  12. 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.

    From fraserdigby, on Thu 2 Jul 4:04AM
  13. 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!

    From anas, on Thu 2 Jul 2:36AM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    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

    From JOHNNYG, on Wed 1 Jul 11:50PM
  15. madrid are ruing football

    From redmondian, on Wed 1 Jul 10:49PM
  16. and ur a liverpool fan... when was the last time u won­ a trophy???? hahaha

    From mccabic, on Wed 1 Jul 10:47PM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    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

    From JOHNNYG2, on Wed 1 Jul 10:20PM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Best Real Madrid CF­ XI

    Casillas

    Ramos
    Albiol
    Cannavaro

    Kaka
    Snejder
    Robb­ en
    Van Der Vart

    Ronaldo
    Vanistoroy
    Benzema

    From myarabhouse, on Wed 1 Jul 10:12PM
  19. filip s... what can i say... ur a poom... if u have the­ impression pellegrini is a @#$% manager... have a­ second thought, POOM!

    From Alex, on Wed 1 Jul 10:06PM
  20. 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.

    From Morituri, on Wed 1 Jul 10:05PM
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