Jun 22
Benzema, Benzema and more Benzema. But it’s only talk.
This will be a short one, and I can’t help but point out the overwhelming twisting of quotes to fit headlines.
First of all there is a quote from Bernard Lacombe, the advisor to Lyon’s president, who talked about clubs being flush with cash. And that it would be difficult to resist a big bid if it came: “If United want to buy Karim then what can you do?”
Which is a question. It’s an indication that Lyon may be willing to sell. But at what price? £25million? Really?
I wouldn’t bet on it.
Ferguson has been a big fan of Karim Benzema, which is well documented. But he’s also fully aware of who he’s dealing with, when it comes to talking business. He made an observation way back in early 2008 — before our Champions’ League fixture against Lyon — about Jean Michael Aulas, which is very valid to date:
“The president is a very clever man. He’s so clever he can sell midfield players for £20m. That’s amazing,” Ferguson said, referring to the hard bargain Aulas drove when Real Madrid bought Mahamadou Diarra in 2006. “That [Jeremy] Toulalan he bought from Nantes just sits and does the same job Diarra did. When they sold Michael Essien [to Chelsea, for £24.4m], they took Tiago then sold Tiago to Juventus for £6m. Eric Abidal, £10m for a left back [when he moved to Barcelona]. They’re a well-run club.
Well run club indeed. We are really talking a French Daniel Levy here, who knows how to get the deal he wants. So I remain sceptical about a deal being done quickly on the Frenchman. I hope I’m wrong, but when he can sell the likes of Essien and Diarra for about £24m, I don’t think we’ll get this lad for the quoted £25m.
Of course, the actual gist of Lacombe’s statement wouldn’t deter papers from splashing stuff like “United close in on Benzema” (Manchester Evening News) and the extremely enticing, ‘authentic’ looking “Benzema heading to United — report” (Setanta Sports); actual juice in that article is really the first line that says he’s at the top of United’s list, attributed to the dreaded “unnamed source” — by that logic all clubs should just create a list of coveted players, throw in some magic beans, and the players would appear out of nowhere.
If you’re still interested in his quoted market value, The Daily Mail reckons £35m, the Mirror £30m while some others say £25m. Take your pick. Although if you were to go by Sky Sports — rather, his agent — he’s going nowhere, and intends to stay put. But then, that’s boring to hear, no?
Well, that’s all I have to say on this. Will be back tomorrow for more. Unless this mysterious Sheik-over (excuse the pun; couldn’t resist it.) involves our club.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Teams Start Talking Big As Champions’ League Clash Looms
- The Karim of the Crop?
- Transfer Talk: Lahm and Benzema | Evra’s Contract
- Benzema ‘Prefers’ Madrid but United better sporting brand than Madrid
- Breaking News: United accept 80m Ronaldo bid
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Stephen (454)
Craig Mc (344)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@RedDevilEddy: The issue isn’t the players we are missing out on, it is the fact that players will be back in pre season training on the 1st of July, then we will go on tour what we don’t want is the Berba senario, we want any new players well bedded in with the squad and with a pre season under their belts.
Like?
0 
0
@Grognard: Oh, thanks, didn’t know about this story.
By the way, just so you know, I do not want him to be a United player. I just think that he is truly talented. Maybe, as you said he is spineless, gutless and whatever expletives you say.
But my point was that the two matches where I actually saw him play the most was obvioulsy our CL encounters, and I satnd by my view that, with the wexception of Julio Cesar, he was one of Inter’s best players on the two legs.
Other than that I saw the usual highlights on TV and the youtubes, and even those small bits of skill are enough for me to confirm that the guy is truly talented.
As for his lack of heart, maybe you’re right, but I also think that Inter is an ortherwise ordinary team in a nowadays ordinary league.
Like?
0 
0
@RedDevilEddy:
.
Like?
0 
0
@Stephen: I’ll give you Maicon!
Cambiasso is n the same level as Carrick for me, Stankovic ditto, Zanetti is living on his legend – no more world class, just decent nowadays.
Like?
0 
0
@NicoQB: I would certainly argue Cambiasso he is a superb player, more agressive and physical than Carrick not really the same player bro, he would be ideal for us.
Like?
0 
0
@Stephen: I understand that, I want that too! But Im caought between two minds…
1. Fergie knows who to replace Ronaldo with, cause he has known he was gonna for more than a year. The signing is already secretly made, or they are negotiating.
2. Fergie is so dumm that he hasnt thought about anything yet, and just lies on the fucking french riviers getting wasted and planning how to beat my FIFA 09 team…
I seriously hope its the former…
Like?
0 
0
@RedDevilEddy: Rooney was a 10 that day if I’m not mistaken, Ronaldo an 8, Berbatov a 9, Tevez a 7.5 (for effort).
If you really watch the game, try to confirm whether Nani had a good first half? I actually remember being baffled at his substitution when I thought he was thee one player who played well in the first half.
Like?
0 
0
@RedDevilEddy: We all know who it is going to be mate, Valencia Fergie has set his heart on him and we will end up paying circa £20m for him which is ludacrous.
Like?
0 
0
@Stephen: You’re certainly right bro, but I was soeaking in terms of value.
I thought that Carrick’s past season was so-so – not his best but not as dreadful as, say, *cough*Anderson!*cough*
If Carrick played at his true level then, he’s as good as Cambiasso in my books. Carrick clearly suffered from not having a regular stopper in midfield.
Like?
0 
0
@NicoQB: I thought Carrick was better than that last season matey, but I totally agree WE NEED TO GET A SETTLED MIDFIELD COMBINATION AND FORMATION.
It annoys me sometimes we play 4-4-2 then play 4-3-3, depending on who is playing or what we are playing.
Like?
0 
0
Valencia hs signed!!!
I read it from GHTT on ROM, who heard it from his friend who heard it from Paddy Crerand on MUTV!!!
Like?
0 
0
@Stephen: Amen, mate!
Like?
0 
0
I’m off to playing Half-Life 2. Been delaying it for a few years now..
Like?
0 
0
@NicoQB: I really believe we can do better than him, for me he isn’t Unitede quality and for the money rumoured it seems very excessive.
Like?
0 
0
@Stephen: Valencia = 1/2 of Nani’s creativity in offense + 1/2 of Park’s grit in Defense.
Fergie’s ideal player.
Agree with you, though, the fee and all.
Like?
0 
0
So Wayne Rooney is also on Twitter, and people have been bombarding him with questions about who Ferguson will bring to the club.
He’s had this to say:
“Sorry i can’t answer any questions about the club who we buy is down to the board & boss we we still be a force next season im sure. We always have been and will be again players always leave clubs but new ones come in Im looking forward to who ever we get cos the Boss Will bring in the ones he thinks will be right for Club. What do you think premiership champions 2009/2010 then England World Cup winners ”
Diplomatic Wayne
And, Craig, you’ll love this:
“For all those asking soz don’t know what the team is yet boss not told us”
It’s not only us fans. Even the players are kept apart from the ‘secret operation’.
This is his twitter page, in case anyone’s interested.
Like?
0 
0
@Red Ranter: I can’t believe that of all places that Rooney can go for his holidays, he chooses to go at Berbatov’s!!!
Like?
0 
0
@Red Ranter: When are you guys going to learn?
. You should listen to me, I told you this snippet of information before the Roon declared it on Twitter. Rooney probably read it from Craigmeister, on Red Rants. When are the major tabloids going to sign me up eh? At least most of their reports would bear some semblance of truth then 
Like?
0 
0
@NicoQB: Oh, no!! Nani was a complete disaster that game. Kept wondering how on earth Ferguson let him stay on the field for the whole 45 minutes – he should have gone off after the first 15.
Like?
0 
0
@NicoQB: He was Nico Bro, but SAF couldn’t take off the Mard Arses so he made Nani the scapegoat AGAIN, even though he played well in 1st half.
.
Like?
0 
0
@NicoQB: That’s a few too many ‘heard’s for the story to have much credibility at this moment. Still, would be shocked if he does not sign by the end of the month.
Like?
0 
0
Why hasnt anyone mentiond Pirlo coming to manchester, he is the best/only world class Cm on the market and im sure he would prefer to come to united were we have a place for him rather than chelsea were half the team are centre mids…
Like?
0 
0
@NicoQB: Not good enough mate, need something more concrete.
Like?
0 
0
@Andrei: No way. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been so much surprised with his substitution. Truth was that the whole team was crap in the first half, except Nani, who at least tried his bit.
@Craig Mc: Too often fans’ appreciation of a certain player is based on stereotype rather than cold, hard facts. Last season Nani was crap when in truth, he barely played. Berbatov was lazy when in truth he covered as much ground as any other player and had more successful tackles than Tevez and even our centre backs.
@Andrei: That was meant in jest, mate.
I think if tonight before going to bed we all think to ourselves: “Let it be that we’ve signed Valencia by tomorrow morning”, then he’ll effectively have signed!
Like?
0 
0
@UnitedUnited: We’re still not signing Ribery. Get over it!
Like?
0 
0
Is it me or has the World lost its marbles?
£18m for Santa Cruz, jeez in 8 season at Bayern he scored 31 goals, last season he netted 6 times, Ok hw was injured for the most part so Citeh are paying the money for one seasons good form where he scored 23.
Carlos will most likely sign for the Bitter Blues, they have signed Santa Cruz who is a Sparky favorite, they have another Hughesy fav in Bellamy, Robinho, Jo, Elano, Bojinov, Benjani, Caicedo, Evans and Sturridge is still there currently will he play more games there, probably but he will need to start well because there are a lot of players competing for one or two places.
Like?
0 
0
@NicoQB: He is a very talented player but his head’s not screwed on right. His attitude has prevented him from ever attaining true greatness because he is lazy and unmotivated. He still scores a lot of goals despite his apathetic attitude though which just makes you wonder what is his major malfunction? If he only gave a 100% instead of 55%. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know what i felt about the guy because to be honest, if United ever signed him, I’d seriously consider shifting my allegiance elsewhere. There is nothing worse than when a player you dislike or who rubs you the wrong way is singed by your favorite team. That would be too grim to bare.
And I also have to respectfully disagree with you regarding his play against us in the two CL legs vs Inter. I thought he was completely invisible and useless in the first leg and then he did manage to do a few things in the second but when it actually came to putting the ball in the back of the net, he failed. Enough said. He is a major choke artist.
Like?
0 
0
@Stephen: Cambiasso is nice little pest of a player. Not very skillful but is able to play along the midfield and cause opponents grief. A more refined version of Park, but not Carrick. He’s also a lot faster and much more physical than Carrick.
Like?
0 
0
@NicoQB: I’m going back to FIFA 09 where I have transformed Hamburg into a German/Dutch hybrid of awesomeness. After twelve games Huntelaar has 15 goals and leads the rest in the Bundesliga by 8 goals. Sure it’s a video game but for me it’s just justifies how truly awesome he is.
And then after that, it’s back to Mass Effect. A fantastic game indeed.
Like?
0 
0
@Craig Mc: Gremio put that valuation on Costa long before we agreed to sell Ronaldo mate, the kids going to be a star and that bids a joke.
Like?
0 
0
@Red Ranter: The players don’t know yet because the boss doesn’t know either because he’s half asleep and just back from vacation.
At least that’s the way it looks to me. OT is famous for looking like a winter resort when the spring comes. They put the linens over all the furniture and lock the doors until October. 
Like?
0 
0
@Fred The Red: 22 million is a lot for an 18 year old kid though! We got Ronnie for 12 million. This lad is surely as raw as Ronnie was then?
Like?
0 
0
@traverse:please call my country name proplerly. it is called barbados
Like?
0 
0
@Craig Mc: Agreed mate, but a starting bid of at least 10 to 12 million would have been fair for both sides, 6.7 million makes us look stupid.
And I know this is a big statement but I think this kid is a more rounded player than Ronaldo was at that age, I could be wrong but I think Costa is a massive talent.
Like?
0 
0
Who the hell is Nilmar??? Jorge Mendes, who brought us Ronnie, is acting on this players behalf with United supposed to be ready to cough up 20 million
. I never heard of the guy – what the ………
Like?
0 
0
@Fred The Red: That’s only paper say though regarding the offer isn’t it?
Like?
0 
0
@Craig Mc: Wikipedia him, he is actually a well known S.american prospect.
Like?
0 
0
Craig I think Nilmar flopped at a French club, pissed off back to Brazil and started scoring again.
Like?
0 
0
@johnsom33: Yeah I just did that mate, and guess what? There is an article titled how Nilmar and Joorabchian defrauded Lyon of both the player and the transfer fee. MSI were involved, and they recruited someone inside FIFA to support them, and as yet Lyon have not recd a loan fee or sale fee for the player, whom Corinthians are claiming as their player. Naymar and his agent knew about this, and Lyon are still awaiting the return of the player or the transfer money. They should already have the loan money. Seems like Joorabchian and MFI, together with FIFA insiders, are corrupt to the fucking core. How they getting away with this. I truly hope we are not getting involved with Joorabchian AGAIN, or SAF will make a rod for his own back and United’s with that smarmy GIT.
Like?
0 
0
@colver: Yeah pissed off back to Brazil by agreeing to defraud Lyon, together with Joorabchian and his MFI cohorts. You gotta read the article on Wikipedia to believe it.
Like?
0 
0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sbf4Ih7UKo&feature=player_embedded
Apparently Noel Gallagher was in Brazil and god knows how he went to see this very match where Nilmar scored this peach of a goal. After the match, he went into the players’ dressing room and tried to convince Nilmar to join City!
Nilmar joining United –> thwarting Gallagher.
Fergie, sign him up!
Like?
0 
0
@Craig Mc: Oops. Fooking Kia!
So much for signing Nilmar then…
Like?
0 
0
@NicoQB: I don’t want to sign this guy IF Joorabchian and MSI crooks are involved. Sorry, but we need to keep away from that bastard!
Like?
0 
0
Sorry Craig, bro, but Clowns!!!
Like?
0 
0
@NicoQB: Surely that Northern rock on the shirts should be Northern Crocks NOW
,
Like?
0 
0
I am a bit confused. If the transfer window does not open until 1st July, how can teams already sign players?
Like?
0 
0
hey people, i just ran thru MAICON on wikipedia….amazingly, he did sign for us before, only to be denied a work permit, hence the move didnt materialize…..so i was thinking now that he is unsettled at inter, y not we attempt to sign him….SUCCESSFULLY TO REPLACE NEVILLE AND GUIDE RAFAEL!! SIGN MAICON!!!!
Like?
0 
0
They don’t. They just agree deals. Technically, Ronaldo and Kaka are not yet Real Madrid players, they have signed a contract starting on July 1st. June if football’s dead month. Nothing but international tournaments going on (and they suck 8=====~ ).
Like?
0 
0
After watching the England U21s last night, I’m officially on the ‘lets sign Jack Rodwell’ train. Head and shoulders the best player on the pitch, and also the youngest (2nd youngest in the tournament!). Big fella, played the ‘Makelele’ role to perfection, completely erased Ozil who was supposed to be walking this tournament (just played in both the Germand and UEFA cup finals). Tackling was good, distribution was fine, if uninspired and he had time to score a goal.
Seriously, he’s the best young English player I’ve seen since the Roon. I know he’s inexperienced but that just means he won’t cost a fortune, which he will in 2 years when he’s a full international and playing all the time at Everton. Fergie sign him up
Like?
0 
0
Seems the new home kit will be revealed on 1st of July. Looks like we have borrowed shorts from LooserFool’s last year’s away kit. And the new kit doesn’t seem to have that much talked chevron. Lets see…
Link
Like?
0 
0