Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson faces a battle to sign Olympique Lyon striker Karim Benzema. The Daily Star says Real Madrid are now clear favourites to sign the 21-year-old after tabling a £28m bid yesterday.

Manchester United boss Fergie's only hope is that the French club are holding out for £30m. So he could still hijack the deal if Real refuse to go any higher.

Benzema has admitted he'd welcome a move to Real, where he would be working with French legend Zinedine Zidane.