Mehdi Benatia | Signed for Bayern Munich

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MOROCCO ace Mehdi Benatia has issued a 'come and get me' call to Manchester United.

by Michael Morgan

The tough Udinese centre-back is being monitored by Old Trafford boss Alex Ferguson — and he has made it clear he would love to link up with the Premier League champions.

Benatia, 24, has a £9.7million price tag on his head, and is under contract with the Serie A side for another three years.

But he admitted last night: "To be linked with Manchester United is a dream come true.

"They are the biggest club in the world, and to have an opportunity to play at Old Trafford would be amazing, believe me.

"But I have a contract with Udinese, and they have to be happy before I can move."

Benatia joined Udinese from French Second Division side Clermont two years ago after failing to make the grade with Marseille. He was a target for Chelsea before they signed £7m Gary Cahill from Bolton last month.

Manchester United news: Mehdi Benatia dreams of United news | The Sun |Sport|Football
 
RDCR07 said:
We should rather focus on Hummels or Subotic to replace Rio.
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I thought Evans, Smalling, and Jones were supposed to be his replacement? We must have more talent in center back then any other club.
 
RDCR07 said:
We should rather focus on Hummels or Subotic to replace Rio.
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Just because they're big names? Nothing I've seen from Subotic has suggested he's better than Benatia.
 
sdb4884 said:
Subotic or Benatia would be perfect replacements for Rio.
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Honestly though, he really impressed me last year. Quick across the ground, reads the game very well, tall and aggressive, aerially competent and good with his feet and he's really excellent on the ground. Very tidy defender, reminds me of Koscielny. Chelsea tried to sign him 5 years ago but he rejected them. I'd be surprised if he doesn't go to a top-level club in the next couple of years, although he could go to someone like Valencia.
 
Even when Rio goes we still have four CB's capable of playing at the top level. I guess our level of interest in this player depends on what position the coaching staff see Phil Jones occupying long term.
 
Brwned said:
Honestly though, he really impressed me last year. Quick across the ground, reads the game very well, tall and aggressive, aerially competent and good with his feet and he's really excellent on the ground. Very tidy defender, reminds me of Koscielny. Chelsea tried to sign him 5 years ago but he rejected them. I'd be surprised if he doesn't go to a top-level club in the next couple of years, although he go to someone like Valencia.
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:wenger: we can give him a miss then
 
Subotic and Hummels are to slow for my liking. It's a big weakness IMO. Can't be having that next to Vidic. He's only fast enough but he's also a better defender in general.
 
I wouldn't complain if we had Koscielny in our team. We'll not be buying Benatia though because we obviously don't need another centre back. This is just typical tabloid nonsense, a player's saying he'd love to go to United. No shit.
 
Seems to be sounding out again.



Manchester United target Medhi Benatia has expressed his desire to join a huge English team in the summer.

The Udinese centre back has been linked with a move to Old Trafford in recent weeks as Sir Alex Ferguson wants cover for the unreliable Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

The 26 year old French born defender has also been heavily linked with a possible move to Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal after impressing in Serie A this season.

Udinese have valued their rock at the back at £15million but United are set to offer a player exchange deal to cut down that hefty price with goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard the likely bait.

Benatia claims that he is more than happy to stay in Italy, but if one of the big English teams were to make an offer it would be a no brainer.

“I am enjoying my time in Italy – the league is very good,’ Benatia told the Metro.

“It would always be my first choice, unless one of the huge English teams that follows me makes a bid.

“If there is a big offer from there, I would definitely consider it, but otherwise I’ll stay in Italy.”
 
I think we are good in the central defense department for at least another year. If Rio retires then we have to find a replacement but until then we are good.
 
RDCR07 said:
I think we are good in the central defense department for at least another year. If Rio retires then we have to find a replacement but until then we are good.
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Even when Rio goes we'll still have Vidic, Jones (who I assume will be moved to defence next year), Smalling and Evans, all very good players. If we need a 5th defender then we can promote from within, Michael Keane looks like a player that might be ready to make a step up soon.
 
I see absolutely no good reason for us to go out and buy another centre back. I said that before we bought Jones and Smalling too to be fair, but that really does stand now. Ferdinand and Vidic are still class, Evans has become a top drawer centre back, Smalling and Jones have both stepped in and looked top class when asked to play and Michael Keane is there next season in an emergency if we decide to keep him.

We don't need another centre back to add to the 5 or 6 we already have, and doing so is only going to limit the progression of two of the finest young centre back talents around.
 
Any chance we could go for this guy. I haven't seen a lot of him but he has been getting very high praise. City were supposedly close to him but now they are supposed to be going for Mangala. I think we need a proven CB like Hummels or Benatia rather then someone like Vermaelen, De Vrij or Martins Indi.
 
::sonny:: said:
It would cost 30-40 million
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That would be mental. He's 27, has had an excellent season but its difficult to gauge how good a player is simply from playing in Serie A at the moment.The league isn't what it once was, simple as.


40 million for a 27 year old centre back who has only emerged relatively recently. 30 million should be about right, in a slightly more sane market he'd be about 20m.

Didn't PSG get Thiago Silva AND Ibra for £50m?! Silva is superior to Benatia in pretty much every way apart from aerial ability and was about the same age when he moved, as well as playing in a stronger Serie A at the time....I have to assume Ibra was the more expensive of the two or simply split it down the middle and make it £25m for Thiago Silva, which was mental. Albeit he probably came with significantly higher wages, although I believe Benatia wants a significant rise?
 
KingEric7 said:
I see absolutely no good reason for us to go out and buy another centre back. I said that before we bought Jones and Smalling too to be fair, but that really does stand now. Ferdinand and Vidic are still class, Evans has become a top drawer centre back, Smalling and Jones have both stepped in and looked top class when asked to play and Michael Keane is there next season in an emergency if we decide to keep him.

We don't need another centre back to add to the 5 or 6 we already have, and doing so is only going to limit the progression of two of the finest young centre back talents around.
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You absolutely need another centre back, one to marshal the defence and add some top quality. You have potential back there (Although two of the finest ones around? I'm not sure that's true at all) but you need someone like Hummels or even this guy.
 
Eriksen said:
That would be mental. He's 27, has had an excellent season but its difficult to gauge how good a player is simply from playing in Serie A at the moment.The league isn't what it once was, simple as.


40 million for a 27 year old centre back who has only emerged relatively recently. 30 million should be about right, in a slightly more sane market he'd be about 20m.

Didn't PSG get Thiago Silva AND Ibra for £50m?! Silva is superior to Benatia in pretty much every way apart from aerial ability and was about the same age when he moved, as well as playing in a stronger Serie A at the time....I have to assume Ibra was the more expensive of the two or simply split it down the middle and make it £25m for Thiago Silva, which was mental. Albeit he probably came with significantly higher wages, although I believe Benatia wants a significant rise?
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I'm guessing sonny means euros and €40m is just over £30m which would be about right.

PSG paid €42m for Thiago Silva.
 
Eriksen said:
You absolutely need another centre back, one to marshal the defence and add some top quality. You have potential back there (Although two of the finest ones around? I'm not sure that's true at all) but you need someone like Hummels or even this guy.
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That post you replyed to was from 14 months ago just before we won the title. Vidic and Ferdinand were still here.
 
SonnyTheHaloPro said:
:lol:



Tbf to him, he did say that in 2012, Smalling was a very good prospect back then.

As for Benatia, I think 25-30million would be a reasonable price for him, he is only 27 as well.
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I know, still made me chuckle though. I doubt he was the best young defender around then though still.

25M would be about right for me. 30m would be alright, 40m would be ridiculous.
 
Silverman said:
That post you replyed to was from 14 months ago just before we won the title. Vidic and Ferdinand were still here.
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I see, my bad. Although you probably still needed one what with those two getting on a bit at that point.
 
Eriksen said:
I see, my bad. Although you probably still needed one what with those two getting on a bit at that point.
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Yeah, we defo need one now and I am dubious if Vermaelen, De Vrij or Martins Indi are good enough. I think our current CB's are better than them. We need a first choice CB rather than a back up.
 
Jiggs'Hamstring said:
God, United fans are annoying. Smalling is still a top prospect
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Erm, he's 25 years old and still can barely pass the ball. No one can deny he's a good defender but a top prospect? Meh. If I was a United fan, I'd have more faith in Jones.
 
Santos J said:
He'll be 25 before the turn of the year, when does he stop being a prospect?
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I'd say at the age of 23 you stop being just a "prospect" anymore and mature consistent displays are expected. Just flashes are no longer enough past that age. Obviously this differs depending on the situation though.
 
Santos J said:
He'll be 25 before the turn of the year, when does he stop being a prospect?
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To be fair considering we are in the Benatia thread, he was joining Udinese on a free transfer from Clermont at the same age.
 
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