Dream Comings and Goings in Milan

By: Martha | January 9th, 2008

Yay Karim! Like clockwork, the Karim Benzema To Milan story has come back around, again thanks to something the kid himself has told the press. Two months ago, Benzema included Milan on a list of teams that he said, rather romantically, “make him dream.” And, this time, the story is a similar one: Now an old man of 20, Benzema spoke to La Gazzetta yesterday and, during the interview, made the rather spectacular error of again combining in the words “Milan” and “dream.” Oh, boy. I mean, this is as bad as when Kaka periodically says he thinks Real Madrid are good — now they’re never going to let him alone! (Benzema also happened to mention his own affection for Real, but that didn’t stop the paper from whipping out an OMG HE LIKES THEM! headline.)

Obviously Benzema’s not going anywhere right now, but no matter how much LyonInara protests, he’s going to move on eventually, and Milan (along with everyone else) would certainly fall all over themselves to convince him to wear red and black when that day comes. And Pato and Kaka would very much appreciate having someone not yet on social security to play with.

Speaking of youngsters and Milan (I know. It’s like “military intelligence.”), the story of their interest in Nice keeper Hugo Lloris is picking up speed, albeit only at goal.com. It seems likely the 21-year-old will be sold this summer, because his contract runs out in 2009 and the club want to make sure they get value (thought to be about €7 million) rather that letting him slip away on a free down the road. Milan, however, are not exactly the only club interested in his services — Lloris is reportedly also being tracked by Lyon, and Nice have already turned down offers from both Lazio (poor Lazio) and Lens for him. And even if Milan do win that sweepstakes, the combination of the summer sale date and the endless refusals from Fiorentina mean they’re still seeking a more immediate solution to the Dida Problem.

Away from the kids, it’s recently been revealed that Ajax president John Jaakke personally asked Clarence Seedorf to come back home. Aw! Even though he plays for the wrong team in Milan, Seedorf has always been one of my favorite players in Italy, as much for his personal class and intelligence as his ability — Jaakke’d have to be crazy not to want him back. Seedorf, being who he is, has been incredibly gracious about the whole thing, despite admitting that at first he thought it was a joke. Basically, he plans to see his contract out with Milan, but after that he says, “you never know how things are going to be in the future … You should never exclude things in life, so I never say never.” (By which he means “Really, really unlikely. But thank you!”)