Football - Possible Winter Transfers of 20 Players (Part 4)
Contd.....
The experienced shot-stopper (Mark Schwarzer) maintained that while he has been happy at Fulham, any footballer would be "crazy" to turn down the chance to play with the elite at the European level.
The Aussie captain said, "That was very flattering, but sometimes you've just got to grin and bear it and just get on with normal life again as much as possible. You just have to get your head down and work as hard as possible. It can affect your day-to-day
life, and ultimately I am judged on how I perform week in, week out. If that performance drops, then no clubs are going to be interested in me. The bottom line is: I've got to play well wherever I am."
Schwarzer confirmed that a move for him was still a possibility in the January transfer window. "A lot can happen between now and January. If there's an opportunity in January, then we'll explore it."
After Manuel Almunia’s latest blunders against West Bromwich Albion at home, Arsene Wenger might be back in the hunt for the Fulham’s number one. Schwarzer’s present contract ends this year and Mark Hughes might not want to lose him for nothing.
Karim Benzema (Present Club - Real Madrid):
Karim Benzema is one of the most talented strikers, who was signed by Real Madrid for a whopping 30 million. But, Benzema has failed to establish himself in the starting eleven of Real Madrid and has mostly warmed the bench.
This talented striker was bought from the French giants, Lyon FC after he started his junior career with that club. While his career with his parent club was lustrous; having produced 67 goals and 16 assists in 150 matches, this can’t be said when his performance
for Real Madrid is considered.
For Los Blancos, Benzema, who was still in his paramount form when bought from O.L, has so far appeared in 39 matches and scored 10 goals along with 4 assists. There were some high expectations from him and it was thought that he will be the talisman that
would finally change the course for the underachieving club.
However, the 22-year-old striker could not satisfy these expectations and therefore succumbed to pressure in the end, not being able to even perform regularly and that lost him a spot in the starting line-up. But after the arrival of Jose Mourinho, the French
striker's performance has improved drastically and he is back to making appearances in the starting line-up for Real Madrid.
Madrid’s new boss has allotted Benzema a targeted role in the team and so far he has been successful in producing results. But still, there are rumours that Mourinho wants to off load him and bring in a player of his choice as in his perspective, the player
though talented but is extra on the squad.
Now, a rift seems to be evolving between Karim Benzema and his new boss as January draws nearer when the winter transfer window will reopen. Manchester United, Juventus and Tottenham Hotspurs lay dormant for now, waiting for the opportunity to call for a
bid.
The former Lyon striker was recently criticized by French national team boss, Laurent Blanc and even his club boss Mourinho thinks that he needs to work hard in order to find a place in the team.
Moreover, Inter Milan are set to exhaust Maicon's value by offering him as part of a swap scheme to Real Madrid in return for Benzema. There are many top clubs who will be interested to acquire his services and he might move to one of them.
(To be continued in Part 5)
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