Benzema ponders Lyon exit
12 Jan 2009 - 12:04:15
Lyon striker Karim Benzema has admitted that he is tempted to leave the French champions in the near future, with the likes of Manchester United and Barcelona on his trail.
The 21-year-old is one of the hottest properties in European football, but Benzema says he wants to see Lyon progress to the latter stages of the Champions League before pledging his future to the club.
He told French newspaper 10 Sport: "I have reflected a bit on this subject during the winter break.
"I'd like to keep my opinion to myself before speaking about it to my family and my agent. But yes, we will have to see what happens after Barcelona.
"We have to stop all this talk about Lyon underachieving and to do that, we need to get past the quarter-finals.
"I love this club. I want to stay, but I would also really like it if we stopped getting knocked out in the last 16. For the moment, I am finishing the season here.
"I get on very well with president Jean-Michel Aulas and I have spoken to him about certain things, like about staying until 2010.
"But we have to have special aims in the Champions League."