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.”

according to manchester united’s official website,

Wigan chairman Dave Whelan has warned Manchester United that Antonio Valencia will decide his own future. Whelan revealed he has received “acceptable” bids of between £14 and £18million from United and Real Madrid, but it is up to the Ecuador winger, who returns to England this weekend. Sources close to Valencia suggest he will opt for United because of Cristiano Ronaldo’s presence at Real, but Whelan said: “There are offers on the table acceptable to Wigan, but what we will finish up with I don’t know. It’s no use me saying he is going to Manchester United – he is the boss. One club could offer £2m more, but if Antonio doesn’t want to go there then there’s no point.”
Richard Tanner, Daily Express

According to the Daily Mail, Atletico Madrid have told United they will not sell Sergio Aguero for less than £50million, while the Daily Star claims the Reds will have to fork out at least £52m to secure the Argentine’s services. The tabloid also reckons Giuseppe Rossi’s agent has alerted United that the striker may be available after talks over a new Villarreal contract stalled.

In other news, the Daily Mirror say Real Madrid could hijack United’s bid to land Karim Benzema after claiming they have given up the chase for Valencia’s David Villa.

Finally, Hull boss Phil Brown has begged Fraizer Campbell to listen to the advice of Sir Alex Ferguson and join Hull. Brown revealed how Sir Alex has told Campbell that joining the Tigers would be the best move for his career.

Note: The extracts on this post are taken from selected national newspapers. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of Manchester United.

Franck Ribery’s agent believes the Bayern Munich midfielder would choose Real Madrid over treble winners Barcelona but insists nothing will be done until next month at the earliest.

Ribery is one of Europe’s hottest properties, with Chelsea and Manchester United reportedly set to do battle with the Spanish pair for his signature.

Bayern insist Ribery is not for sale, but Alan Migliaccio claims his client has not given up on a move to the Bernabeu this summer.

“Ribery would prefer to play for Real Madrid than Barcelona,” he told RAC-1. “The player has talked with Zinedine Zidane and he wants to play for Los Blancos for him.

“But at this moment everything is blocked because the people at Bayern are on holiday until the end of this month.

“I can’t say anything else until we meet them in the next few weeks.”

The agent of Swedish International Zlatan Ibrahimovic has revealed that Premier League clubs Manchester United and Chelsea have made contact, with regard to signing the Inter Milan striker.

27-year-old Ibrahimovic has been in fine form for the Nerazzurri this campaign, with the former Ajax player finding the net 21 times in Serie A for Jose Mourinho’s side.

However, despite being on the brink of helping Inter to yet another Scudetto, Ibrahimovic is understood to be keen on a move away from the San Siro. United and Mourinho’s former club Chelsea along with Barcelona and Real Madrid are all claimed to have made contact with the striker’s agent Mino Raiola, with Raiola also claiming that it is only these clubs, who could afford his client. Ibrahimovic is reportedly on around £160,000-a-week at the Italian Champions.

“Chelsea, Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid are in contact with me,” Raiola told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.

“They are the only teams capable of taking someone like Zlatan.”

However, Raiola also stated that Ibrahimovic, who has scored 62 goals in 114 games for Inter and is under contract at the Nerazzuri until the summer of 2013, could also remain at the San Siro.

“Until proven otherwise, he will go ahead with Inter because he is under contract with the Nerazzurri club,” he added.

“If we do move, it will be to another great team. Otherwise he will stay and try to win the Scudetto and Champions League with Inter next season.”

Ibrahimovic has scored 20 goals in 56 caps for Sweden, with it likely to cost the Blues, Red Devils, Barca or Los Blancos in excess of £40million to end the striker’s four-year spell in Italy.

According to Telegraph,

Real Madrid say they will capitalise on the £80m capture of Cristiano Ronaldo by selling a million replica shirts bearing the Portuguese forward’s name in his first six months at the Bernabeu.

In Real’s eyes, Ronaldo is the ‘Golden Goose’ of merchandising, the global icon they have lacked since David Beckham’s departure to LA Galaxy in 2007. Acquiring Ronaldo, or so says the blueprint of president Florentino Perez, secures a football-obsessed constituency of more than a billion people in the lucrative Far East market.

Beckham’s £25m purchase from Manchester United in 2003 reportedly doubled Real’s shirt sales in the Far East, but while the white shirt became more prevalent, United red continued to thrive in the region, even without Beckham.

Ronaldo’s departure was thought to be bad news for the millions of Asian supporters, particularly those in Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea and China who had been expecting to the see the 24-year-old during United’s Far East tour in July.

But Taewoon Park, a journalist for the Sports Seoul newspaper, says that Ronaldo’s departure will actually be welcomed. He said: “I am convinced that Ronaldo leaving will not affect United’ popularity in Korea.

“Actually, some Korean supporters are pleased about it because Ronaldo’s attitude and desire to leave for Real Madrid made them so tired. Such character-collapsing team chemistry cannot be allowed in Korea, which has very strong organisational or community culture.

“Sure, Ronaldo is very popular, but he is not the single most favourite football personality. In Korea, it is Ji-sung Park. Recent research demonstrated that 75 per cent of Korean football fans selected United as their favourite European club, ahead of Real Madrid, Barcelona and AC Milan.

“The United supporters will continue to support United, just as they did when Beckham and Ruud van Nistelrooy left.”

United’s supporters in the region are also sanguine. “It certainly would disappoint many Man U fans here because lots of them love him and want to see him in Jakarta,” said Yudi Prihartano, of an independent fans’ group in Indonesia. “But there are lots of other stars in the team so it won’t matter much.”

Liverpool FC have issued an official statement on recent transfer rumours linking Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso away from Merseyside.

Here’s what LFC Globe’s website read,

Mascherano has been linked with European champions Barcelona while Xabi Alonso has been linked with a move to Real Madrid.

“Neither is for sale and furthermore Liverpool has no interest in the long list of Spanish based players being linked with a move to Anfield as part of any deal.”

Real Madrid’s offer of £80million has been accepted by Manchester United. United confirmed on Thursday morning they had accepted an £80million bid for the world player of the year, with a world-record deal expected to go through by June 30.

The news had been expected given that Real stated on Wednesday night talks were under way and now it is only a matter of finalising the player’s personal terms before he completes a dream move to the Bernabeu.

Real president Florentino Perez had already vowed to do “everything possible” to sign the 24-year-old and, unlike 12 months ago, Sir Alex Ferguson did not even attempt to talk Ronaldo round, knowing the former Sporting Lisbon player had his heart set on a move.

A United statement read: “At the request of Cristiano - who has again expressed his desire to leave - and after discussion with the player’s representatives, United have agreed to give Real Madrid permission to talk to the player.

“Matters are expected to be concluded by 30 June. The club will not comment until further notice.”

The news is bound to be greeted with some scepticism by United fans, who have repeatedly been told no deal had been agreed for the sale of FIFA’s World Player of the Year in the face of regular statements from Spain the former Sporting Lisbon star was bound for the Bernabeu.

It was even suggested Ronaldo would be due a £20million compensation fee from Real if the deal did not go through by June 30, the date United now state themselves as when they expect matters to be concluded.

As it now seems a matter of when, rather than if, a world-record transfer will be completed, Ferguson might wish to explain why he has gone back on his famous comment in December last year that he would not “sell that mob a virus”.

It is the first time for many years United will have allowed a player to leave they were not happy about losing. Yet some supporters may be pleased that at least another drawn-out transfer saga, such as the one 12 months ago, is not played out in public.

And at least the money could be reinvested in a squad that almost, but not quite, proved good enough to win back-to-back Champions League trophies, in addition to a hat-trick of Premier League titles.

And, in reshaping a squad that looks almost certain to lose Carlos Tevez as well, Ferguson might be able to offer Wayne Rooney a more permanent central striking role and fulfil the promise he has shown on the international stage this season.

The name of Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery is bound to crop up as a potential replacement, although the 27-year-old seems hugely overpriced at the £40million figure being bandied about in some quarters, with Wigan’s Antonio Valencia also in the frame.

Ferguson will certainly be making plans already to ensure his new faces are on board before United head to Asia for their pre-season tour five weeks from today.

Amid the frenzy over Ronaldo’s impending departure, it is bound to be asked whether the current debt hanging over United of almost £700million has played any part in the decision to accept Real’s huge bid.

While Ferguson has always backed the Glazer family for the support he has received, supporters will now be interested to see whether their manager is handed all the funds received from Spain, plus an annual transfer kitty said to be around £25million.

With Edwin van der Sar, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville all reaching the end of their careers, it promises to be a far more testing summer than Ferguson might have realised.

And, for all the petulance and pouting for which Ronaldo is so famed, filling the void created by the loss of his immense talent may prove difficult.

According to www.manutd.com,

“At Cristiano’s request - who has again expressed his desire to leave - and after discussion with the player’s representatives, United have agreed to give Real Madrid permission to talk to the player.

Matters are expected to be concluded by 30 June. The club will not comment until further notice.

Real Madrid has already done the deal with Kaka and now with Ronaldo and they are next eyeing on Zlatan Ibrahimović of Internazionale

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