Fergie eyes Lyon duo
Sir Alex Ferguson has targeted Lyon duo Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa in a sensational £40million swoop. Boss Fergie made his move just a week before Manchester United face the French side in a Champions League last-16 clash. He spoke to Lyon week. Aulas said: “I spoke to Sir Alex. I told him that Benzema and Ben Arfa will not leave in the next two years. We want to build our future on them. If he wants to exchange Cristiano Ronaldo.. for Ben Arfa we could talk about it but they would have to also give us a bit of money.” But Aulas’ remarks will not put off Fergie, who spoke to the Lyon president before Saturday’s game with Sochaux. French ace Benzema, 20, is one of the hottest strikers in Europe with 16 goals in 24 league games this season, while Fergie sees jet-heeled Ben Arfa, 20, as a long-term replacement for Ryan Giggs, 34. The pair are also summer targets for Arsenal and Chelsea.
Antony Kastrinakis, The Sun
In other news, Ryan Giggs says one more poor display and the title will slip from United's grasp. But Sven-Goran Eriksson believes the derby defeat has already wrecked United's title dream.
Arsenal took full advantage of the Reds' defeat with a 2-0 win over Blackburn. Emmanuel Adebayor scored for the ninth successive game as the Gunners roared five points ahead of United.
Round up by Gemma Thompson