Karim Benzema

Juventus will challenge Manchester United for the signature of long-term Old Trafford target Karim Benzema during the January transfer window.

22-year-old Benzema scored nine goals in 32 appearances for Real Madrid last season, but his lack of first team action lead to his exclusion from Raymond Domenech’s French World Cup squad.

Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho has stated publicly his desire to hold onto the player, but there are rumours of a rift between the two.

Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport claims that with Benzema having scored only once this season and showing little sign of settling in Spain, Juventus will look to sign the Frenchman for a cut-price fee. 

Gazzetta dello Sport also reports that Manchester United will look to sign Benzema.  Sir Alex Ferguson has long been an admirer of the striker and Manchester United chief executive David Gill admitted that the club made a bid for Benzema two summers ago but were beaten to his signature by Real Madrid .

With Wayne Rooney out of sorts and much resting on the shoulders of Dimitar Berbatov , Ferguson could well look to bring in attacking reinforcements such as Benzema.