Benzema agent excludes exit

Asked about the most recent rumours linking the player with a summer move to Barcelona (read more here), Karim Djaziri, the agent of Olympique Lyon forward Karim Benzema (20), said in an interview with Madrid sports tabloid Marca that the French international does not have any plans to leave his current club at the end of the season: "Benzema will not leave Lyon. I know a lot of clubs are interested, but he's still young and wants to stay with the club to gain more experience. That's why he signed a renewal a few weeks ago. There's no buyout clause, Benzema does not want to leave and Lyon does not want to sell, so next season he'll be in Lyon. After that we will see."

Djaziri assured that he did not met with Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain on Tuesday when the latter went to watch Benzema in the quarter final of the French cup (read more here): "I didn't talk to him but I cannot exclude that he met with Lyon officials." Catalan sports paper Sport nevertheless claims today that it was Benzema's agent who received Begiristain at the Lyon airport and accompanied him to a hotel and later to the stadium.

It's clear to all parties that Benzema will stay for at least one more year in Lyon. Benzema's agent and Olympique Lyon sports director Bernard Lacombe did not spread any doubts about that. The Catalan paper says that Barcelona just wanted to be the first to make an official contact with the French club and claims that Begiristain could offer Olympique Lyon midfielder and Barcelona loan out Marc Crosas (20) for free in exchange of a first option on Benzema, something Barcelona already tried when the loan deal on Crosas was agreed upon back in January.

Sport thinks that next summer, Lyon will only start to talk if an offer from at least 50 million euro° comes in, with that price possibly even going up after this summer's Euro 2006 and another Champions League campaign next season.