By Chris Wright
Real Madrid wastrel Karim Benzema could (and that’s a rather large ‘could’) be in line to make a surprise January switch to these shores, with Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier admitting that he would sign up the French striker in an irregular heartbeat.
There have been numerous rumours emanating from the Spanish press that Real are willing to allow Benzema to leave the club on loan come the turn of the year and Houllier (who knows the 22-year-old fairly well from their time together at Lyon) has already thrown Villa’s metaphorical hat into the ring – telling L’Equipe:
“If Karim wants to come and play at Aston Villa, we would sign him tomorrow. We are keen to offer him more first-team opportunities.”
Vive la Révolution Française á Villa Park!
Whilst there is a chance that many of Europe’s ‘big fish’ may have been put off by Benzema’s monumentally pap form since moving to the Bernabeu, I think you can probably still file this one under ‘wishful thinking’ on Hou’s part.