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Manchester City have reportedly bid an incredible €70m for Real Madrid striker and Arsenal target, Karim Benzema, report Esporte.
The Frenchman is on the list of many clubs after Madrid manager Rafael Benitez admitted to wanting to use both Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale as his centre-forwards. If Benzema does sign for the Citizens, he'll the fourth high-profile player after Raheem Sterling, Fabian Delph and Patrick Roberts.
City manager Manuel Pellegrini is adamant to add more firepower to his squad after seeing the likes of Stevan Jovetic, Alvaro Negredo and Edin Dzeko leave the club. Along with Benzema, City are also known admirers and followers of Wolfsburg's Kevin de Bruyne.
Benzema enjoyed another fine season at the Bernabeu last season after scoring 21 goals in 38 appearances for the Royal whites. The selfless player he is, Benzema also set up an incredible 63 chances for his teammates to put away.
He'll need a quick start
He'll be competing along with last season's Golden Boot winner in Sergio Aguero if he makes the move to England. Aguero has pretty much been City's main striker ever since his move from Athletico Madrid but has suffered a series of injuries in the past few years to really clamp down a spot and make a continuous impression.
With a French contingent of Eliaquim Mangala, Samir Nasri, Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy already at the Etihad, Benzema will be expected to settle down quickly and help his team regain the title after the team lost out to Jose Mourinho's Chelsea last year.
Manchester City kick off their Premier League season later tonight when they take on Tony Pulis' West Brom Albion at the Hawthorns. They'll be looking to start off their season on a winning note given rival front-runners, Chelsea, suffered a 2-2 draw with an incredibly stubborn Swansea.
While Manchester City might need and could use a striker of Benzema's quality, Arsenal, on the other hand would move one step closer to completing their squad after sticking with Olivier Giroud and suffering a shock 0-2 home loss to West Ham United.
Given the roller coaster in the first week of action, it's safe to say the season's only going to get better and better and with Karim Benzema in it, it's going get even more so.
