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Arsenal have reportedly joined Manchester United in the race to sign Lyon’s French International striker Karim Benzema.
Benzema has been heavily linked with a transfer to Manchester United since the January transfer window and are now looking to replace Argentinean striker Carlos Tevez who recently left the club, but The News of the World have claimed that Benzema is now also being targeted by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
The Gunners boss is reportedly tracking the French International striker as a replacement for Emmanuel Adebayor, who is expected to join Italian giants AC Milan during the summer transfer period.
Arsenal have put a £25million price-tag on Adebayor, which means that Arsenal could easily place a £30million bid for Benzema, which may be enough to persuade the 21-year-old to leave the Stade Gerland this summer, but after the departure of striker Carlos Tevez from Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson is believed to be willing to match that offer and he already has the funds available to seal the deal.
Despite the attention from the two Premier League clubs, Benzema has already stated that he would prefer to remain at Olympique Lyonnais next season, to help secure a place in the France national squad for the World Cup in South Africa next year.
But the club's owners have hinted that a bid of more than £30m would be enough to start talks, while Benzema is also believed to favour a move to Arsenal, who have a host of French speaking players at the club, to a transfer move to Manchester United.
Meanwhile, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan have all been linked with Benzema so, unless Arsenal secure a deal with AC Milan for Adebayor in the next few days, Manchester United - now flush from the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid – are the frontrunners to seal the transfer of the young French star.
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas confirmed the strikers wish to stay at the club, but also revealed that a big money offer could sway things.
“Karim has said that he wants to stay another year at Lyon,” said Aulas to French daily L'Equipe. “But I think that Kaka or Ronaldo maybe imagined remaining with their respective clubs.
“There is a tsunami called Real Madrid which provokes reactions at Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United.
“So it is very complicated to say that he is non-transferable. It's obvious we want to keep him. There is more chance he'll be at Lyon next season than that he won't be.
“I won't hide from you the fact that he has been approached. For the moment, I managed to convince them not to go further.”
But, tellingly, Aulas has also recently said: “Nobody knows what is going to happen. What should we do if Manchester, who have a lot of cash to spend, want to sign Benzema?
“We didn't think Michael Essien would leave at the time, but when Chelsea arrived with the cheque...”