BALLON D’OR WINNER KARIM BENZEMA MULLING OVER MOVE TO SAUDI ARABIA
Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has received a big proposal from an unnamed club in Saudi Arabia and is considering a move to the Middle East.
The five-time Champions League winner will be a free agent in June and has yet to decide his future. According to Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Saudi Arabia’s offer to Karim Benzema includes a hefty two-year, €200 million contract that would see the 2022 Ballon D’or winner earn up to $106.7 million a year.
The deal would make the Real Madrid captain the third-highest paid footballer in the world, trailing only fellow Frenchman Kylian Mbappe and former Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo. Mbappe and Ronaldo earn close to $110 million and $211 million on an annual basis at Paris Saint-Germain and Al Nassr respectively.
Benzema would also own 100% of his image rights and will have the choice of any team he wants in the Saudi Pro League. Multiple reports suggest, however, that the Lyon-born striker is likely to end up at league leaders Al-Ittihad FC, a club based in the city of Jeddah and now managed by former Wolverhampton and Tottenham Hotspur manager, Nuno Espirito Santo.
Per Spanish media, Relevo’s Toni Juanmarti, Benzema and Al Ittihad have been in conversation in recent days and the club expects a definitive “yes” from the Frenchman. The Saudi club has reportedly agreed to all the requests transferred by Benzema and the temptation for the 2022 Pichichi winner to move to the Middle East is very serious.
In the lucrative Saudi deal, Benzema will also pay no income taxes and will be granted the choice of his own private residence. The 2021-22 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year will also have the honour and responsibility of an ambassador role as Saudi Arabia prepares to bid for the upcoming 2030 World Cup, after the success of the tournament in Qatar last year.
With Benzema’s future up in the air, MARCA’s Jose Felix Diaz reported this week that the 6-foot-1 striker is definitely closer to leaving Real Madrid than staying. Benzema declined renewing his contract with the Los Blancos until 2024 back in 2021, and only signed until June this year. The four-time La Liga winner made it clear to the club at signing that he would leave Madrid as soon as he felt his level had fallen, saying “he did not want to become a burden.”
As per European journalist, Fabrizio Romano, Real Madrid were informed of the Saudi offer by Benzema’s camp on Tuesday and that the two-time La Liga Player of the Season was seriously considering it. Madrid have always been interested in keeping Karim Benzema and have had documents of his new deal ready since last year but nothing is yet to be signed.
With speculation surrounding Benzema’s future circulating all over social media, his trainer added to the speculation by reposting multiple stories as fans said goodbye to their captain and one of Real Madrid’s best ever players. He later took them down and clarified that he reposted without paying attention to what they said. “I have never said goodbye to Karim,” he said. “I just posted some fan page pics and I wasn’t paying attention to what they said. It’s my fault. The future of Karim is a mystery for me too.”
Saudi Arabia expects a definitive answer from Karim Benzema in the next week as the league remains in pursuit of seven-time Ballon D’or winner Lionel Messi, who has been linked to Riyadh-based Al Hilal FC. Messi’s decision on his own future is also expected to impact where Benzema signs and vice versa.
Multiple reports suggest that Chelsea midfielder N’golo Kante and Spanish international Adama Traore are also on the agenda for teams in the Saudi Pro League but both players would like to continue their careers in Europe. With more and more European players choosing the heavily-backed Saudi Pro League at the end of their careers instead of the ever-growing MLS, it might just be a new dawn for football in the Middle East.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Real Madrid. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.