Barcelona To Offer Lyon Abidal Plus Cash For Karim Benzema - Report

Barcelona could be ready to strengthen their squad next summer by bringing Karim Benzema to the Camp Nou.

The Catalan side have been on the tail of the Lyon forward for a while now, and Maxifoot.fr reports today that they could use one of their own players in the deal, in a bid to try and persuade the French side to sell.

Eric Abidal is the name that has been mentioned, with Lyon reportedly interested in bringing the defender back as they try to shore up their left-back position.

Abidal left the French side back in 2007 and currently Fabio Grosso is the first choice for the position, but he could well be moving back to Italy next summer, if reports are to be believed.

It seems almost certain that Benzema will be leaving Lyon this year, with the striker having said before that he wants to move to a bigger club.

However, previous quotes from the player have linked him strongly to Real Madrid rather than Barcelona, with the striker saying it is his dream to play for the defending La Liga champions.

Presumably Lyon would prefer to sell Benzema in a deal for another player though, especially one of the quality of Abidal.

The defender has suffered from an injury this season but has been an integral part of the Barcelona side when he has played.

Lyon and Barcelona meet in the Champions League in February, and it will be interesting to see if reports do strengthen around then.

James Walker-Roberts, Goal.com


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