Karim Benzema revealed he rejected advances from Manchester United before opting for his “dream” move to Real Madrid.

Benzema established himself as one of Europe’s hottest properties during his time at Lyon, for whom he scored 54 competitive goals in the last two seasons, and he was regularly linked with some of the continent’s biggest clubs.

Madrid won the race for the France international after having a 35million euros bid accepted by Lyon last week, but while Benzema insists the Spanish giants were always his top choice, he confirmed they were not his only suitors.

When asked what other teams were keen on him, Benzema said: “There were quite a few clubs that contacted me like Manchester (United), Inter Milan and Barcelona, but I decided to come here.

“Real Madrid are an excellent club. I’ve dreamt about playing here since I was 15 years old.

“Florentino (Madrid president Perez) spoke to me about the team and the project that he wanted to create. I wanted to play at Real Madrid anyway so he didn’t have to convince me of hardly anything.”

Benzema is the the fourth new arrival to be unveiled by the Spanish giants since Perez returned to the presidency at the start of June, following in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Raul Albiol.

An estimated 90,000 people turned up for Ronaldo’s presentation at the Bernabeu on Monday, while around 55,000 were in attendance for Kaka’s unveiling last week.

The amount of people that watched Benzema’s presentation on Thursday night was considerably less than those two players, with around 20,000 in the stands, but the Frenchman was still delighted with his reception and immediately endeared himself to the fans by repeatedly kissing the Madrid badge.

“It was very exciting. Real Madrid fans have a special relationship with the players and I am very grateful for that,” he said.

“I felt some strong emotions today and that’s why I kissed the badge.”

Benzema, who has not yet been given a shirt number at his new club, was a prolific scorer with Lyon and he is confident he can be a regular marksman at Madrid as well - if he can secure himself a place in what is promising to be a star-studded line-up.

“I don’t want to promise a set number of goals, although I hope to score a lot. With players like Kaka, (Cristiano) Ronaldo and Raul it will be very easy for us to get goals,” said Benzema, whose signing takes Madrid’s spending this summer towards the £200million mark.

“I’m aware that there is great competition at the club and maybe I cannot always play, but I’ve come here to fight, so it’s not going to be a problem.”

Real Madrid-bound striker Karim Benzema has revealed he turned down the chance to join Manchester United and a host of European giants.

The France international was thought to be high on Sir Alex Ferguson’s wanted list following the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez.

However, despite being heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford it was big-spending Real Madrid who agreed a fee with Lyon for the 21-year-old’s services.

Benzema has confirmed he could have joined the likes of Manchester United, Barcelona, Internazionale or AC Milan, but only wanted to play alongside the likes of Kaka and Ronaldo at El Santiago Bernabeu.

“When I started to play football I had a lot of dreams. The first was to become professional footballer. The second to play in French team. The third was to wear the Real Madrid shirt.

“I am both sad and happy. Happy to join the greatest club in the world, and sad to leave my club, my friends, and all the education staff. I own everything to Lyon.

“Indeed, I could have joined Manchester United, Barcelona, Internazionale or AC Milan, but Real are unique. Everyone is dreaming to play at Real.

“I really wanted to stay at Lyon until the next World Cup. The opportunity to play with stars like Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo and so many great players, made me change my mind.”

Benzema, who is now relishing the prospect of making his debut for the Spanish giants, says the visit of Florentino Perez to his house played a major role in his decision to join.

“Real are a kid’s dream. Florentino Perez came to my house at Bron. That was important,” he continued. “He can speak French and I understood he absolutely wanted me. I could only leave for Real. It was my dream, that’s all.

“I am eager to be at the training-sessions, wear that shirt, and play the first league match. I know I will join a new world.

“Why shouldn’t I play each match? I want to make a name for my-self as quickly as possible.”

Sir Alex Ferguson has got a £100million to spend on transfers after he personally gave the order for Cristiano Ronaldo to be sold to Real Madrid, the departure of Ronaldo will leave a big hole to fill in the United squad, which Sir Alex Ferguson will try to fill with the £80 million coming from by selling Ronaldo and £20 million will be handed over to him as transfer budget from the club.

Ever since the news of Ronaldo leaving the club has arrived the news papers are yelling just one thing out to Sir Alex Ferguson,

Spend, Spend, Spend

accordint to www.manutd.com (the clubs official web site),
United last night prepared to enter a bidding war with Chelsea for France international Franck Ribery which could go as high as £65m. Old Trafford boss Ferguson is also known to have Lyon’s £25m forward Karim Benzema on his hit list and he hopes to conclude the £16m signing of Wigan’s Antonio Valencia in the near future

the web site goes on to mention,
Wigan’s Ecuador winger Valencia has long been a Ferguson target and he will almost certainly join shortly while the United manager has not yet given up on persuading Carlos Tevez to stay on a long-term deal. As well as Benzema, Ferguson’s hit-list includes Barcelona holding player Yaya Toure. It is, however, the prospect of United going head to head with Chelsea for Bayern Munich’s Ribery that looks the most mouthwatering. Bayern have already indicated the 26-year-old is not for sale and it will take an offer of around £65m for the Frenchman to be prised away.

United have been linked with a host of top talents since Ronaldo’s potential departure was announced. The Guardian says Barcelona’s Samuel Eto’o could arrive, while wingers David Silva (The Times) and Arjen Robben (Daily Star) are also being monitored.

according to www.footballtransferleague.co.uk,
ManU’s most probable out this summer is none other than Carlos Tevez according to the website Carlos Tevez can leave United for either of the following clubs

• Manchester City
• Liverpool
• Real Madrid
• Chelsea
• Tottenham
• Inter Milan

and the most probable INs are

• Luis Antonio Valencia (Wigan)
• Karim Benzema (Lyon)
• Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)
• Nicolas Bertolo (Atletico Banfield)
• Jose Rodolfo Pires Ribeiro Dodo (Corinthians)
• Neymar da Silva (Santos)
• Alexis Sanchez (Udinese)
• Walter Henrique da Silva (Internacional)
• Douglas Costa (Gremio)
• Victor Mongil (Real Valladolid)
• Aaron Lennon (Tottenham)
• Paul Pogba (Le Havre)
• Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Real Madrid)
• Kyle Naughton (Sheffield Utd)
• Arjen Robben (Real Madrid)
• David Silva (Valencia)
• Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona)

well £100million is a lot of money to burn, Sir Alex has got a huge responsibility on his shoulders to fill in Ronaldo’d boats. United fans will hope that he spend (which he usually does) spend this much of money in the right way to keep his squad tough for the next season.

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