Man United line up Real Madrid ace should Falcao fitness bid fail
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Manchester United are said to be lining up a sensational swoop for Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema should Radamel Falcao fail in his bid to prove his fitness.
United signed the Colombian forward on a £6m loan deal from Monaco, with a view to making a permanent £43m deal, but have grown frustrated at the striker’s lack of fitness.
Falcao suffered a major knee injury earlier this year and while he is reported to have recovered from that set-back the 28-year-old has featured in just six United games since his arrival.
Should the former Monaco and Napoli ace fail to convince Louis Van Gaal of his reliability, the Dutchman has been led to believe that Benzema could be available.
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti is not actively looking to offload the Frenchman, having recently granted him a new £150,000 a week, five-year deal, but would accept a bid in the region of £40m for the player.
Ancelotti has been tasked with offloading some players in order to balance the books, with Madrid facing debts to the tune of £480m, and Benzema – along with Iker Casillas, Javier Hernandez and Fabio Coentrao – are all said to be expendable.
United fill face stiff competition from Premier League rivals Arsenal and Liverpool but the Red Devils currently looking like the most likely of the three to be playing Champions League football next year, the north west could prove the most attractive option.
United attempt to make it four Premier League wins in a row on Tuesday with stoke the visitors to Old Trafford and at odds of 4/9 is safe to suggest the Potters will be put to the sword.
Stoke can be backed at 13/2 to avoid a third successive loss, but with the hosts winning 12 of the last 14 meetings between the sides it looks a huge ask from Mark Hughes’ men.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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