Karim Benzema | sweating his old fat ass off and no rescue coming from the PL awww diddums

[MegadrivePerson]

We need a striker, we have no money. How is signing an available, decent striker on loan in January, the same as spending £60m on a Casemiro or Varane? Or even getting an Eriksen on a free?

Rashford, Hojlund, Garnacho, Antony, Pellistri and Amad is more than enough to see out the season.

It's a good chance to assess the future of them too.

 

[Plant0x84]

I’ll take him if it means no Choupo. It’s a Cavani vs Ighalo type situation. Beggars can’t be choosers.

 

[padzilla]

He's a scumbag. I don't want him anywhere near the club.

 

[crossy1686]

Rashford, Hojlund, Garnacho, Antony, Pellistri and Amad is more than enough to see out the season.

It's a good chance to assess the future of them too.

It would be good for Hojlund to learn from a seasoned striker. The lad isn't going to just start scoring 30 goals a season one day unless he's given all the support and advice he can get while he's still learning.

 

[tomaldinho1]

I’ll take him if it means no Choupo. It’s a Cavani vs Ighalo type situation. Beggars can’t be choosers.

Surely there are more than two options? We just need some cover, can we not just look at Werner like players (out of favour but fast/pressing strikers? Or maybe someone like Akpom?) Or just pay like £5m for Che Adams like player (someone good but not elite) who work their arses off, are fast and aggressive/physical, get goals and assists through the year and will likely be happy as a squad player + are cheap as chips/have no impact on FFP.

Hojlund should be trusted this season as No1, then we need a different profile who is fast and aggressive and much more of a pressing attacker in my opinion on the bench.

 

[Maluco]

Was it not bringing in short term, sticking plaster solutions that created the mess that the club is in today?

It would make more sense to give the likes of Hojlund and Garnacho plenty of minutes for the rest of this season than bring in another washed up player at the end of their career.

I don’t think it was, no. It was buying the likes of Bailly, Lindelof, Maguire, Wan Bissaka, Antony, Sancho etc….

Adding proven winners to a quality team wouldnt be an issue. Our issue is that our actual money transfers and recruitment are so poorly planned.

 

[redshaw]

Ronaldo slowed up so much in his last year. Benzema has a decent record in Saudi but has been accused by fans of looking slow and tired, it's a worry Ronaldo is outshining him. Maybe his heart isn't in but if he's going to look like playing in slow-motion here then it will be painful to watch. 100m a year is a lot to walk away from at 36.

 

[aeh1991]

Surely there are more than two options? We just need some cover, can we not just look at Werner like players (out of favour but fast/pressing strikers? Or maybe someone like Akpom?) Or just pay like £5m for Che Adams like player (someone good but not elite) who work their arses off, are fast and aggressive/physical, get goals and assists through the year and will likely be happy as a squad player + are cheap as chips/have no impact on FFP.

The quality difference between Benzema and the strikers you named (especially Werner who is incapable of scoring) is immense. Even though he might not have the speed anymore, he is a goal scoring machine, as well as a great link up forward. Think of it as a similar transfer like 35 years old Zlatan in 2016 who was slow too, but his quality was enough to score his goals. There are simply no options this winter and we need a CF. Of course Benzema is no option if he doesn't take a huge pay cut (basically would be playing for free compared to his Saudi salary), but IF he does, it's absolutely no question to sign him imo.

 

[tomaldinho1]

The quality difference between Benzema and the strikers you named (especially Werner who is incapable of scoring) is immense. Even though he might not have the speed anymore, he is a goal scoring machine, as well as a great link up forward. Think of it as a similar transfer like 35 years old Zlatan in 2016 who was slow too, but his quality was enough to score his goals. There are simply no options this winter and we need a CF. Of course Benzema is no option if he doesn't take a huge pay cut (basically would be playing for free compared to his Saudi salary), but IF he does, it's absolutely no question to sign him imo.

Is it today though, or are you just going off the name? 35 year old Zlatan was a physical phenomenon, he was renowned for his work ethic towards fitness but you could see he was nowhere near what he used to be. Even think of how off the pace Ronaldo, another fitness obsessed former great, at the same age as Benzema looked for us. We're hardly playing well either, is a 36 year old Benzema going to change anything?

We need to stop looking at names and looking at profiles of player to build a squad. I'm not advocating for these types of alternate players to be first XI but surely you'd rather pick someone up for essentially a free like Adams or Iheanacho (I am using them as they are running their deals down) who are very solid squad players, would command very modest comparative salaries and essentially just be good cover? That's unless we can land Mbappe this summer as he runs down his deal but seems unlikely!

 

[croadyman]

Contrasting views from two reliable journos,however Wheeler is likely better connected specifically on Utd

 

[aeh1991]

Is it today though, or are you just going off the name? 35 year old Zlatan was a physical phenomenon, he was renowned for his work ethic towards fitness but you could see he was nowhere near what he used to be. Even think of how off the pace Ronaldo, another fitness obsessed former great, at the same age as Benzema looked for us. We're hardly playing well either, is a 36 year old Benzema going to change anything?

We need to stop looking at names and looking at profiles of player to build a squad. I'm not advocating for these types of alternate players to be first XI but surely you'd rather pick someone up for essentially a free like Adams or Iheanacho (I am using them as they are running their deals down) who are very solid squad players, would command very modest comparative salaries and essentially just be good cover? That's unless we can land Mbappe this summer as he runs down his deal but seems unlikely!

I truly believe that despite the natural decrease in quality due to his age, Benzema is still better than players like Adams or Iheanacho, especially in terms of pure goal-scoring ability.
I mean, he scored 31 goals in 43 games just one and a half seasons ago. If he doesn't have the stamina to play the full 90 minutes, just bring him on in the last 30 minutes.
His qualities in passing and link-up play are something he hasn't forgotten and could be very useful, especially considering we have fast-paced wingers in Garnacho and - dare I say - Rashford.

He definitely won't be able to press hard, but who listens to ETH nowadays anyway? I named Zlatan as an example because of the exact reason that he was not the same player he had been before he joined us, but he still managed to become useful. We could really use a guy who knows how to score (something we are terrible at) and also makes good passes to create chances.

 

[tomaldinho1]

I truly believe that despite the natural decrease in quality due to his age, Benzema is still better than players like Adams or Iheanacho, especially in terms of pure goal-scoring ability.
I mean, he scored 31 goals in 43 games just one and a half seasons ago. If he doesn't have the stamina to play the full 90 minutes, just bring him on in the last 30 minutes.
His qualities in passing and link-up play are something he hasn't forgotten and could be very useful, especially considering we have fast-paced wingers in Garnacho and - dare I say - Rashford.

He definitely won't be able to press hard, but who listens to ETH nowadays anyway? I named Zlatan as an example because of the exact reason that he was not the same player he had been before he joined us, but he still managed to become useful. We could really use a guy who knows how to score (something we are terrible at) and also makes good passes to create chances.

Depends what you mean by better I guess, he was a world class player so his finishing, touch and movement are on another level but we've seen a lot of slower, technical players struggle in the PL. I'd be for it, even with my reservations about taking time away from Hojlund and Benzema's character, if we were keeping the ball as a team but just struggling to break teams down/create something from advanced positions in most games. We don't play that way at all. I am a big Benzema fan but I just can't see it.

 

[Stack]

36 years old.
We need to stop doing this sort of thing and concentrate on high quality young players with a future.

 

[croadyman]

36 years old.
We need to stop doing this sort of thing and concentrate on high quality young players with a future.

So I will ask again who is gonna help take some of the pressure off Rasmus shoulders

 

[Rozay]

So we need a striker to come in and cover, especially as Martial is injured, and people have a problem with that player being Karim Benzema? Because he’s too famous or something, and as a result we ‘should have learned our lesson’ and stop bringing in players who have already proven they are good at football?

The only thing here is if Benzema were to come, it would likely be our long term 9 who ends up as cover, not the experienced vet signed on loan.

 

[Rozay]

36 years old.
We need to stop doing this sort of thing and concentrate on high quality young players with a future.

Indeed, let’s get Mbappe on loan for 6 months.

 

[groovyalbert]

I don't think we'll be able to justify the wages. Could limit us further in the summer too.

In other news, Diego Costa is available on a free...

 

[Woziak]

I don't think we'll be able to justify the wages. Could limit us further in the summer too.

In other news, Diego Costa is available on a free...

Four months will be five months as the contract will be end of June 24 so I’m
Guessing he would want £250k per week or £5m for wages plus a loan Fee of the same. Can’t see United affording the total £10m required?

 

[groovyalbert]

Four months will be five months as the contract will be end of June 24 so I’m
Guessing he would want £250k per week or £5m for wages plus a loan Fee of the same. Can’t see United affording the total £10m required?

In all honesty, no. I think it would be the wrong statement for the club to put out when we're supposed to be turning a new page.

I also don't think he's guaranteed to hit the ground running. He looked pretty spent by the end of last season and has shown nothing to suggest he's ready for the EPL at this stage in his career. Not dissimilar to Ronnie last season. It was time.

 

[golden_blunder]

So I will ask again who is gonna help take some of the pressure off Rasmus shoulders

We need to get him as many minutes as possible for his development

 

[golden_blunder]

I don't think we'll be able to justify the wages. Could limit us further in the summer too.

In other news, Diego Costa is available on a free...

And he looked cooked as well at wolves

 

[SER19]

36 years old.
We need to stop doing this sort of thing and concentrate on high quality young players with a future.

I generally agree with you. But with Martial out now too, and rashford awful up top, any injury to hojlund or any game where we might need a goal, we have no options at all. Imagine how easy it will be to play against us if winning, our options to chase a goal are non existent. We needed another striker even before martial the crock got even more crocked. Benzema on a reasonable deal for the rest of season (4 months) is not awful if you ignore the past traumas of doing this sort of thing

 

[Bobski]

So we need a striker to come in and cover, especially as Martial is injured, and people have a problem with that player being Karim Benzema? Because he’s too famous or something, and as a result we ‘should have learned our lesson’ and stop bringing in players who have already proven they are good at football?

The only thing here is if Benzema were to come, it would likely be our long term 9 who ends up as cover, not the experienced vet signed on loan.

You pretty much answered the question of why people would have a problem with it. Utd are likely out of the CL race this season already, 17 league games and a few Cup games to go, with plenty of time between matches, what is the benefit of bringing in Benzema, win a few more games, finish 6th instead of 8th, a longer run in the Cup? That is best case scenario as well, if Benzema is not cooked, and to do that Hojlund has to take a step back and back up Benzema, who sure as hell won't be coming to be a bench player.

 

[Stack]

So I will ask again who is gonna help take some of the pressure off Rasmus shoulders

What pressure exactly? I would bet if you ask him he would relish being able to have a good long run of games where he gets picked every game.
I disagree with spending big wages on a player just to relieve some perceived pressure on another player. Its dumb and we have done it too many times.
We need to be spending money on the players with a future ahead of them.

 

[Stack]

I generally agree with you. But with Martial out now too, and rashford awful up top, any injury to hojlund or any game where we might need a goal, we have no options at all. Imagine how easy it will be to play against us if winning, our options to chase a goal are non existent. We needed another striker even before martial the crock got even more crocked. Benzema on a reasonable deal for the rest of season (4 months) is not awful if you ignore the past traumas of doing this sort of thing

Find someone else where we arent wasting big money on wages for a past brilliant player. Would much rather we gave a younger player a chance. The season is fecked, its gone. I seriously doubt we would get Benzema on a reasonable wage deal, when exactly has that happened before. This is a dumb move it were to happen

 

[SER19]

Find someone else where we arent wasting big money on wages for a past brilliant player. Would much rather we gave a younger player a chance. The season is fecked, its gone. I seriously doubt we would get Benzema on a reasonable wage deal, when exactly has that happened before. This is a dumb move it were to happen

You might be right, id obviously prefer an alternative, or some pre approved target that is less known. But I dont want to see an injured hojlund in february and watch us go 2 months making it even more difficult to score or change a game

 

[Stack]

You might be right, id obviously prefer an alternative, or some pre approved target that is less known. But I dont want to see an injured hojlund in february and watch us go 2 months making it even more difficult to score or change a game

I guess my pessimism comes from the fact I think our season is pretty much fecked so just want us to be concentrating on doing long term solutions.

 

[SER19]

I guess my pessimism comes from the fact I think our season is pretty much fecked so just want us to be concentrating on doing long term solutions.

I have a foolish fraction of belief that a couple of the teams above us will falter and if top 5 is enough for CL then theres a minute chance we sneak it- if in fact the new football ownership prompts some players to up their game and realise there might actually be a genuine rebuild happening. Guys like Dalot, Wan Bissaka, Antony, even Rashford, Hojlund, possibly even Bruno, all have work to do to present themselves as part of a new set up.

 

[Pickle85]

I guess my pessimism comes from the fact I think our season is pretty much fecked so just want us to be concentrating on doing long term solutions.

This is how I feel about it as well. It feels like he may have a good half season, we'd end up picking him up for another year or two on absurd wages and he's promptly disappear. Plus, isn't he a gigantic, possibly criminal, dickhead? Brilliant player over many years, of course.

 

[arthurka]

I give up, if this goes down we can truly say nothing changed at all.

 

[Bondi77]

First there was talk of Qatari ownership and now this cnut coming to our great club!!!
Is there no thought to how the fair gender feel about these issues??

 

[Rozay]

You pretty much answered the question of why people would have a problem with it. Utd are likely out of the CL race this season already, 17 league games and a few Cup games to go, with plenty of time between matches, what is the benefit of bringing in Benzema, win a few more games, finish 6th instead of 8th, a longer run in the Cup? That is best case scenario as well, if Benzema is not cooked, and to do that Hojlund has to take a step back and back up Benzema, who sure as hell won't be coming to be a bench player.

Thankfully, I imagine our players and coaches are unaware of this predetermined fact that the best we can finish is 6th instead of making up the monumental 8 points or whatever we need to make up in half a season and finish in the top 4.

We are a professional football team and our aim is to win football matches. Even if that means we go from 8th to 5th then that is worth it. It is also better than going from 8th to 11th, which is also a possibility, especially if this Hojlund, currently a 2-PL goal striker himself, that everyone is so protective off is unavailable for a long time.

The fact is, we are short and need another striker for the next few months. The only problem I can see with Benzema is that people would prefer us to get a ‘less good’ striker instead, perhaps because it feels a bit more like a ‘United signing’ when there is more unknown and they can attach likely unjustified hope and fantasy to it. If we indeed need a striker, given our second choice is injured, why would anyone be mad if it happens to be Benzema? Surely it isn’t because they think he is not good enough, so I can only think it’s because he’s too good. I read things about ‘signing 35 year old strikers’ and what not, are we supposed to go and get Goncalo Ramos for 6 months or something?

 

[Pickle85]

Thankfully, I imagine our players and coaches are unaware of this predetermined fact that the best we can finish is 6th instead of making up the monumental 8 points or whatever we need to make up in half a season and finish in the top 4.

We are a professional football team and our aim is to win football matches. Even if that means we go from 8th to 5th then that is worth it. It is also better than going from 8th to 11th, which is also a possibility, especially if this Hojlund, currently a 2-PL goal striker himself, that everyone is so protective off is unavailable for a long time.

The fact is, we are short and need another striker for the next few months. The only problem I can see with Benzema is that people would prefer us to get a ‘less good’ striker instead, perhaps because it feels a bit more like a ‘United signing’ when there is more unknown and they can attach likely unjustified hope and fantasy to it. If we indeed need a striker, given our second choice is injured, why would anyone be mad if it happens to be Benzema? Surely it isn’t because they think he is not good enough, so I can only think it’s because he’s too good. I read things about ‘signing 35 year old strikers’ and what not, are we supposed to go and get Goncalo Ramos for 6 months or something?

Yep, I'm sure that's the reason most have. He's too good.

Nothing to do with the fact that we'd have to part subsidise his absurd wages with no guarantee that he'd be able to get back up to speed quickly enough. Never mind the fact that he's old and getting older and has never played in the prem. Benz a couple of years back I'd have said that's no problem, but Benz after a half season of downtime, combined with no reason to have any hunger/drive now, having won everything and collecting mental wages? No thanks.

 

[Rozay]

Yep, I'm sure that's the reason most have. He's too good.

Nothing to do with the fact that we'd have to part subsidise his absurd wages with no guarantee that he'd be able to get back up to speed quickly enough. Never mind the fact that he's old and getting older and has never played in the prem. Benz a couple of years back I'd have said that's no problem, but Benz after a half season of downtime, combined with no reason to have any hunger/drive now, having won everything and collecting mental wages? No thanks.

Ah, the old caf panic that anyone we sign might ask for actual money. Okay cool, let’s look for a striker who costs £30k a week. Show me your list and we’ll evaluate their quality. Paranoia about salary has always been idiotic to me, extra so in this case. Firstly, because you have absolutely no idea what that number would be, even hypothetically. Secondly, if whatever the number turned out to be was prohibitively high for us, then we obviously wouldn’t pay it, because it wouldn’t be within our budget. If it happens, it is because we can afford it, naturally. What is obvious, is that a player being paid a kings ransom in Saudi Arabia is clearly not looking to leave in search of a pay day. Do you know the other club apparently interested in him? Fecking Lyon. We saw an identical example last week with another player. Instead of that team dismissing him because he reportedly earned 700k per week, they got a deal done. That team was Ajax! Teams with far less money than us.

Also, clearly, you don’t seem to understand the job spec. It matters not that you would have said ‘no problem’ a couple years ago. You would have said ‘no problem’ to Real’s leading striker and Ballon D’or holder to coming in for half a season to provide another option to a goal-shy 20 year old? I would think he would have been a bit overqualified. There is no point in listing concerns that he ‘couldn’t guarantee’ his very best. Nobody can guarantee anything and his very best isn’t what we’re after, I don’t think we are looking for a 100m striker. He is certainly good enough for the job spec we have available right now, and there’s nothing to indicate that he couldn’t even be a #2 striker here, apart from age prejudice really. He was one of the best strikers in the world less than a year ago and has not been significantly injured.

Ultimately, either we go and get someone rubbish (on the basis that we don’t want to pay anyone a decent salary and we also want them to be 25 and not 35), or we get one of an extremely small list of strikers who is good enough to play for Manchester United, a list which gets even smaller when you add that they have to be available on loan mid-season. And then take Benzema off of it.

 

[Pickle85]

Ah, the old caf panic that anyone we sign might ask for actual money. Okay cool, let’s look for a striker who costs £30k a week. Show me your list and we’ll evaluate their quality. Paranoia about salary has always been idiotic to me, extra so in this case. Firstly, because you have absolutely no idea what that number would be, even hypothetically. Secondly, if whatever the number turned out to be was prohibitively high for us, then we obviously wouldn’t pay it, because it wouldn’t be within our budget. If it happens, it is because we can afford it, naturally. What is obvious, is that a player being paid a kings ransom in Saudi Arabia is clearly not looking to leave in search of a pay day. Do you know the other club apparently interested in him? Fecking Lyon. We saw an identical example last week with another player. Instead of that team dismissing him because he reportedly earned 700k per week, they got a deal done. That team was Ajax! Teams with far less money than us.

Also, clearly, you don’t seem to understand the job spec. It matters not that you would have said ‘no problem’ a couple years ago. You would have said ‘no problem’ to Real’s leading striker and Ballon D’or holder to coming in for half a season to provide another option to a goal-shy 20 year old? I would think he would have been a bit overqualified. There is no point in listing concerns that he ‘couldn’t guarantee’ his very best. Nobody can guarantee anything and his very best isn’t what we’re after, I don’t think we are looking for a 100m striker. He is certainly good enough for the job spec we have available right now, and there’s nothing to indicate that he couldn’t even be a #2 striker here, apart from age prejudice really. He was one of the best strikers in the world less than a year ago and has not been significantly injured.

Ultimately, either we go and get someone rubbish (on the basis that we don’t want to pay anyone a decent salary and we also want them to be 25 and not 35), or we get one of an extremely small list of strikers who is good enough to play for Manchester United, a list which gets even smaller when you add that they have to be available on loan mid-season. And then take Benzema off of it.

Eh? So essentially the first bit part of your message implies that we never overpay wages for anyone because we have a budget beyond which we won't go? Even if that budget exceeds what the player is worth? As for your supposition that my concern for his wages is ridiculous because...I don't know what it would be. Here's a newsflash for you... neither do you. And I can assure you he didn't retire to Saudi for the quality of footie and his tan. It was for the cash, so absolutely nothing suggests that he'd be willing to take the sort of pay cut he'd need to.

And you talk about job spec, but you clearly don't understand what I was saying. I'm not saying that he definitely couldn't do it. I'm saying that he's probably not physically ready to, after half a season in that league, and he's probably not arsed to. You're incredibly naive if you think we can drop him in the side and he'll be ready to go. He's not sharp enough or hungry enough.

 

[croadyman]

I could live with not getting him on a loan deal IF we have secured deal for Osimhen,however suspect he's Chelsea bound

 

[Bright_Eyes]

I truly believe that despite the natural decrease in quality due to his age, Benzema is still better than players like Adams or Iheanacho, especially in terms of pure goal-scoring ability.
I mean, he scored 31 goals in 43 games just one and a half seasons ago. If he doesn't have the stamina to play the full 90 minutes, just bring him on in the last 30 minutes.
His qualities in passing and link-up play are something he hasn't forgotten and could be very useful, especially considering we have fast-paced wingers in Garnacho and - dare I say - Rashford.

He definitely won't be able to press hard, but who listens to ETH nowadays anyway? I named Zlatan as an example because of the exact reason that he was not the same player he had been before he joined us, but he still managed to become useful. We could really use a guy who knows how to score (something we are terrible at) and also makes good passes to create chances.

Just think it's the same short term mistake we've been making for a decade. Buying a huge wage player who will decline and might not be up for the challenge and will need replacing soon. It will massively effect who else we can sign in the summer. It will continue to mess up our wage structure. Would like to move to a different strategy than this.

 

[UnitedSofa]

Just think it's the same short term mistake we've been making for a decade. Buying a huge wage player who will decline and might not be up for the challenge and will need replacing soon. It will massively effect who else we can sign in the summer. It will continue to mess up our wage structure. Would like to move to a different strategy than this.

Who said anything about buying?

A short term loan would be perfect for this. Especially considering we’re skint….atleast until the summer.

6 month load deal makes perfect sense. I imagine he’ll go Chelsea, tear up the league and then this place will rip the club a new one for being inept for not getting him in on a short term deal.

 

[Robertd0803]

My concern is that he is physically knackered.

 

[aeh1991]

My concern is that he is physically knackered.

Can't be worse than Martial for sure?
It's not about getting a 20 year old who can run past defenders. It's getting a veteran forward on loan who can solve our lack of goal scoring problems (not only by goals but his assisting skills) and teach Hojlund while he's here.