Manchester United: Papers: Lyon will listen

Lyon 'powerless' to keep Benzema
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has hinted he could be powerless to keep Karim Benzema at the Stade Gerland. The young striker is one of the world's hottest properties at the moment, with Inter Milan and Real Madrid among the clubs reportedly considering tabling a 40million euro bid. Speculation is also rife Manchester United are ready to use some of the money earned from the impending sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Madrid to bring Benzema to Old Trafford. And, although Aulas is confident the 21-year-old will remain at Lyon at least until next summer's World Cup, he admits a mega bid could sway Lyon's stance. "Karim has said that he wants to stay another year at Lyon," Aulas told 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. Today, 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."
Staff reporter, The Independent

The Sun claims Carlos Tevez will stay at United in a permanent deal, so long as the Reds' hierachy agrees to make him the club's highest-paid player. That would allegedly mean an extra £15,000 per week to bring him up to the level of Rio Ferdinand and Dimitar Berbatov.

There is widespread reaction to Sir Bobby Charlton's assessment of Cristiano Ronaldo's potential departure, with the Reds legend labelling the £80million fee 'vulgar'.

Round up by Steve Bartram

Ashley Young