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ALEX FERGUSON CHASES KARIM BENZEMA

United boss will target Lyon ace to replace Carlos Tevez

KARIM BENZEMA - target
KARIM BENZEMA - target
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SIR ALEX FERGUSON has made striker Karim Benzema his main summer transfer target - and that will mean the end of Carlos Tevez at Manchester United.

The United boss is a long-time admirer of Lyon’s Benzema, who made a stunning impact when the two clubs met in the Champions League last season.

Fergie will turn his attention to the Frenchman, 21, who has admitted that he will be on the move at the end of the current campaign.

But Fergie will face fierce competition from both Real Madrid and Barcelona for Benzema, who has become the most wanted young player in Europe.

It could push the price over the £40million mark but Fergie will be willing to splash the whole of his summer transfer budget on Benzema. Fergie From Back Page

famously fell out with Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas who accused the United manager of tapping up Benzema a year ago.

Aulas said at the time: “Give us £45million and Cristiano Ronaldo and you can have him.”

The future of Tevez as a United player now looks doomed. They have baulked at the £32m asking price for the Argentine international and Fergie believes the money would be better spent on Benzema.

He is joint top scorer in this season’s Champions League with five goals. His 20 strikes last term helped fire the French club to their seventh successive League title.

Your comments

This article has 38 comments

even though i support man utd
fergason is a thivk shit no one can replace teves

By adil. Posted January 16 2009 at 12:36 PM.

Manchester United needs Benzema.
Benzema is actually the best striker,he is young,talented,he has power to play,incredible strong shoot,dribble,very fast,and power .
i wonder why ManUtd goes and buys these serbs ,the newcomer now in manchester united. he is nothing.
if u ant success buy Benzema .

Rooney Benzema
Ronaldo carick anderson nani
evra evans ferdinand neville

the best team

By French. Posted January 15 2009 at 4:33 PM.

WE SHOULD DEFINATLY GET BENZEMA! TEVEZ IZ GOOD BUT HE HASNT FULFILLED HIS POTENTIAL... UTD IZ DA BEST CLUB 4 BENZEMA!!

By AK. Posted January 15 2009 at 1:54 PM.

i want tevez to stay 4get benzema carlos is betta!! ARGENTINA!!! ARGENTINA!!! ARGENTINA!!!

By bash. Posted January 14 2009 at 6:23 PM.

he will come to utd at the cost of Tevez but he will sure stay in the bench 4 as long as he is thea!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i love Tevez nway Fergie knows wats good for the club-by far the most successful club manager in Europe of all time.GLORY GLORY MAN UTD

By Caleb. Posted January 14 2009 at 6:57 AM.

How about this?

Rooney Berbatov

Tevez

Benzema Ronaldo

Anderson Carrick

Vidic Rio Evans

VDS

By utd!. Posted January 14 2009 at 3:57 AM.

benzema will not come to united in the summer its a full STOP and i promise u dat Tevez will stay but i think sir alex is delaying his deal because he knows they would reduce the price so i think it wont be 32m at the end. and tevez is the best in his own roll and benzema in his, so i rather have tevez then benzema.

By me. Posted January 13 2009 at 9:24 PM.

i think tevez should stay but i dont really care just as ronaldo stays ok this season hasnt got offf to a great start but just think we wouldn't champions of europe without his goal(ok yes he missed his penalty) but without those 42goals do you really think we would of won i think forget about tevez and think of that world class player that we MANCHESTER UNITED have in our club!!

By abby. Posted January 13 2009 at 6:15 PM.

benzema is 21 years old and carlos is almost 25 we need a young striker like rooney who we can use for years to come. i love tevy but i just dont think there is room for all this talent on one team.

By steffan. Posted January 12 2009 at 4:58 PM.

another proof that fergie is just buyin the league again!!! he wouldnt win anything at all on a level playing field like the whole of the so called big 4, thats why he will never be remembered as a real ledgend like shankly or clough.. if he was as good as people say scotland would have won something by now.....why not?? because that takes ability NOT an open cheque book, and when the rule comes in about having 6 homegrown players, wouldnt it be good if a club had to have 5000 home grown fans too!!!

By sean. Posted January 12 2009 at 12:16 AM.

All utd fan love Tevez you could see how much during todays game when he went for warm up and he loves utd too. Benzema is an excellent player and he can offer us something different to all our current striker. I would like it if we can keep Tevez and get Benzema in the summer once we win the Premership and Champions league again. I think Ronanldo will go to Madrid in the summer i hope not but Benzema will be an excellent replacement if he does go. Five strikers is not to much if we want to continue our world domination Sir Fergie. Please keep Tevez

By ruf. Posted January 11 2009 at 9:15 PM.

i feel for the work horse tevez he is defo worth the 32m asking if Berbatov is worth 30m. Berbatov is so lazy waste of money. tevez is twice the player and younger. saf should of save the money and got Benzema or Huntelar we need a six yard man like we had in ruud van get the tap ins

By rosco. Posted January 11 2009 at 3:09 PM.

get both of them...small and easy...

By dzull. Posted January 11 2009 at 2:41 PM.

that gordan guy who we should get rid of berbatov does not know what he is on about we spend 32.75m on him and i think he needs to get to know his team mates better and he will be scoreing in no time

By scottbennett. Posted January 11 2009 at 2:28 PM.

if benzema is leaving lyon do u think madrid will have the money to bid for him and ronaldo, who i think will be tapped up by madrid again. in the summer i think ronaldo will start this pantomine off again as i think his heart is already in spain. let him go. get about 80m then buy benzema and tevez..mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


By willie. Posted January 11 2009 at 1:11 PM.

Agreed Teves is very hard working just like Durt Kyret of Liv. The only lacking is his ball skills and scoring goals. Moreover his reading of the game is bad and make silly passes. Whenever he possesed the ball he always loose out to opponent defenders.Good to look from the outside because of his hard work but that is not relevent if he cannot score goals or read the game better.

By ManU. Posted January 11 2009 at 1:07 PM.

Tevez is RED through & through, he's tenacious & strong like a jack russel we've got to keep him!,forget the mercenary that is Benzema & bring Campbell back for next season.

By john kirtley. Posted January 11 2009 at 1:02 PM.

As much as Benzema is a good player,but considering all the money spent on Berbatov who is useless,very lazy and slows down our attacks but still favored to Tevez by the boss. If only Berbatov wasnt already bought,it was gonna be a very good move to bring in Benzema because we'd have used his money to buy Benzema other than risk losing Tevez who is a tremendous player and his heart is at playing for United and winning trophies with them. Its better to get rid of Berbatov instead and bring in Benzema and United will be invincible in no time,but we all know how hard that will be since Madrid and the other big clubs are also chasing after him and in the end his price tag will be ridiculous.. So lets please stick to Tevez and try moulding Berbatov into a better player if at all possible!

By Gordon Hamdan . Posted January 11 2009 at 12:29 PM.

Tevez is lacking in confidence and senses that SAF doesn't value him as much with Berbatov first choice with Rooney and Ronaldo.
If SAF decides to really go for Benzema, he will sell Gibson, Wellbeck , Manucho and Campbell to maybe generate 18 million and keep Tevez as well using him as a provider like Berbatov.
I don't see the 4 younguns above ever being regular first teamers anyway.

By Jimbo. Posted January 11 2009 at 12:06 PM.

...Fergie should have snapped up Huntelar before madrid did and let Tevez go but if he can bring in Benzema then united will be unstoppable force !!!

By GOD. Posted January 11 2009 at 11:59 AM.

tevez is worth every last cent of the 32M. he works hard for the team and doesn't just chip in the odd goal or two, he is class, with the other attacking talent at united we need a player like tevez who ca drop into the midfield and help out with defensive duties.

benzema has also indicated how much he wants to join madrid and it would be daft to let a player like tevez leave who has clear passion for united while benzema will just go to the club that pays him the best wages.

TEVEZ all the way, benzema isn't even in the same class so he can't even be compared to tevez.

By nirov . Posted January 11 2009 at 11:24 AM.

Yes Benzima wants to go to Manchester United and the beautiful

By ribayi. Posted January 11 2009 at 11:12 AM.

Fact : Tevez is a work horse and motivates the key players around him but he is not a clinical , natural striker . I for one have been monitoring Benzema who is a young class act strength and pace in abundance . He will relish the role of linking up with Ronaldo , Berbatov and will buzz of the threaded balls from Carrick and Scholes . Tevez is not worth £32 million in todays credit crunch problems ...Bring on the boy Benzema

By busbyboy. Posted January 11 2009 at 10:58 AM.

TEVEZ IS JUST AS GOOD AS BENZEMA HES JUST LOST HIS CONFIDENCE BADLY THATS ALL..WHEN ITS BACK YOUL SEE...

By MARTIN SPICER. Posted January 11 2009 at 10:30 AM.

I Dont really care coz dere both good strikers buts its jus dat tevez works a harder but benzeema finished more

By Fa1Z . Posted January 11 2009 at 10:30 AM.

Tevez works hard indeed but this also causes him to shoot 'softly' when in front of goals. He scored crucial goals indeed..when he should've scored loads earlier? I watch French League regularly and Benzema is class. The next best thing. Considering his age, worth more than Berba or Tevez. Add £8m to one of those's price tag and Manu could get someone scoring for fun.

By ak. Posted January 11 2009 at 10:22 AM.

I feel for Tevez, But 32 Million is too much for him especially after paying an initial 20 million for a two year loan deal. Lets not forget about Wellbeck and Campbell they will need to be bloodied sooner rather than later if Sir Alex intends to keep them. Sir Alex knows what he is doing and i for one will support him in whatever he decides.

By Andy Bowley. Posted January 11 2009 at 10:11 AM.

Tevez dies more work than Berbatov, scores more 'crucial' goals, and makes more opportunities for his teamates. However, the £32mil is surely an opening gambit?

By bloody Limey. Posted January 11 2009 at 9:40 AM.

Tevez Is Da Best, Karim Benzema Is Good But As He Said Earlier He Wants To Play For Real Madrid Its His Dream. Whereasn Tevez Has Stated That He Wants To Stay At Man Utd. So Lets Keep Tevez And Forget ABout Benzema. Look At How Much Late Goals Tevez Has Scored And Saved Us He Is The Best For Man Utd.

By marcus mafia. Posted January 11 2009 at 9:11 AM.

Sir. Alex is a clever man. He knows what he is doing, and at the end of the day Tevez will stay but it will certainly not be 32M

By duke. Posted January 11 2009 at 8:29 AM.

tevez is not worth 32 million .but berbatov is
you must be joking tevez is a better player than berbatov and benzema is overated

By stephen nelson . Posted January 11 2009 at 8:22 AM.

Benzema has made it known more than once that his "dream" Is to play in Spain and his "dream move" Is to play for Real Madrid. Benzema moving to United is very unlikely. If it did why would he not do the same thing Ronldo did and try to force a move to Real Madrid three years down the line? He's a world class player. But I'd rather have players at United who love the club rather than the money the club are paying them.

By Conal Curran. Posted January 11 2009 at 7:57 AM.

Benzema is a quality player, well worth the money, let tevez go madrid as he as recently stated an get berba an benz up front with rooney sittin behind UNSTOPABLE!!!

By MKC. Posted January 11 2009 at 7:13 AM.

£32 million for tevez is just too much,i wouldnt mind benzema coming in. He is a very good player

By TEEQUE. Posted January 11 2009 at 6:40 AM.

Brings some variety. Tevez is very similar to Rooney. Also we would have WellBack and Campbell.

By Darshan Mody. Posted January 11 2009 at 5:31 AM.

Benzema is better value than Tevez and is more of a goal threat.

By Leroy Cain. Posted January 11 2009 at 4:52 AM.

I really like Tevez but he is not worth 32 million! Karim Benzema is a good,fast strong player and is a goal scorer. Tevez is a workaholic and chips in with vital goals but its up to you Fergie.........

By Glen McEvoy. Posted January 11 2009 at 3:01 AM.

TOOOOO EXPENSIVE. BUT A GOOOD PLAYER.

By TED. Posted January 11 2009 at 1:41 AM.

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