Lyon’s charismatic chairman Jean Michel Aulas has made clear that the French side intend to build their squad around French international Karim Benzema but has conceded that should the player want to leave his preferred destination would be Real Madrid. The 21-year-old hitman has been heavily linked with a move away from the Stade Gerland following Lyon’s failure to win an eighth successive Ligue 1 title. Manchester United, Chelsea and Barcelona have also been mooted as possible destinations with the transfer market seemingly awash with big-money offers.
Speaking to goal.com, Aulas revealed his plans for the Lyon prized asset:
“Karim has long expressed his desire to remain with Olympique Lyonnais. The club wants him to stay and restructure around him.
“Now it’s true that the transfer market is very surprising and the news from Real [Madrid], Chelsea and Manchester United makes me very perplexed.
“No-one is intransferable, but knowing Karim, if he did leave, it would be to Real Madrid.
“For the moment, we are not talking about transferring Karim.”