I've been tracking Karim Benzema, of Lyon, for some time.
I haven't seen much of him play but his statistics this season have been extremely impressive and there's growing chatter about him on the web and in newspapers.
Last night I watched the Rangers Lyon game and he was superb. At 19 he is already physically impressive with exceptional speed. However, its the arrogance with which he plays and his fantastic ball control that really took me aback. He terrorized Rangers all night and scored twice. He played a lot on the left, drifting infield to attack just like Thierry Henry's free role at Arsenal.
I thought last night that this guy was truly a star in the making. I know we have our own wonder in Torres and I'm extremely happy with Fernando, but Benzema looked a player of potentially similar ilk.
I read a couple of weeks ago that Schuster of Madrid has his eye on both Benzema and his team mate Fred and no doubt plenty of other suitors will soon start to circle about him. I know we have Torres but it pains me that over the years we have been consistently beaten to the continent's best young talent by the likes of Man UTD (Ronaldo, Nani), Arsenal (Van Pierse), Chelsea (Robben, Cech), Juventus (Trezeguet) and in the case of Kaka, Milan. After watching him last night I'd love to see him in a red shirt: he and Torres (if they clicked) would be frightening.
Thoughts?