At the height of his art as a Ballon d’Or, Karim Benzema has nevertheless decided to leave Real Madrid and European football to join the Al-Ittihad club in Saudi Arabia. A choice that he considers personal and sporting.
In 2023, a real page is turning in European football. Since in the wake of Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure to Al-Nassr, several great international players are preparing to land in the Middle Eastern country. If the Saudis failed to bring in Lionel Messi, who will eventually continue his career at Inter Miami in MLS, they have already struck a blow by recruiting Karim Benzema. Author of a huge career at OL (2005-2009) and especially at Real Madrid (2009-2023), where he won the biggest titles such as the Champions League at the collective level and the Ballon d’Or 2022 on Individually, the French international will indeed continue his career at Al-Ittihad. A somewhat unexpected start that KB9 explains for several personal and sporting reasons.
“I always wanted to live there”
الكرة الذهبية تضيء الجوهرة المشعة 🤩💛🖤#Benzema2Ittihad pic.twitter.com/NSEzrG2eAt
— نادي الاتحاد السعودي (@ittihad) June 8, 2023
“I decided to go to Saudi Arabia because I’m a Muslim and it’s a Muslim country. I always wanted to live there. I have already been to Saudi Arabia and I feel good there… It’s beautiful. When I had a conversation with my family to say that I was signing with Saudi Arabia, they were all very happy. This is where I want to be… I hope I can bring my football to my new club. Above all, I want to continue winning titles. It’s a new chapter for me and I would like to take the club further, where there is a lot of passion. It’s also important that Cristiano Ronaldo is in Saudi Arabia because he’s a great player. He brings a lot to this country and it will raise the level of the game even further. So it is important to show that Saudi football can have a global impact.”launched Benzema in his first interview with the Saudi media.
And the millions of euros in all this?
we all know the reason 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/Ov8UiAWHtH
— Frank😎 (@Kadinya254) June 8, 2023
A statement that does not deceive many people, at least in Europe, since on social networks, the followers of this sensational transfer do not hesitate to take the opposite view of these fine statements. Many testimonials remind us that a player cannot in any case explicitly say that he chooses to move away from the high level simply for financial reasons, under penalty of being badly seen in his new club. ” I‘money instead of football, have to assume’, ‘why didn’t he fulfill his dream of playing in Saudi Arabia earlier in his career? “, “with such a contract, my dream too is to play there “, was in particular seen answering KB9. If everyone believes that Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and perhaps soon N’Golo Kanté and Sergio Ramos have every right to fall for incredible financial offers, they could also assume that they are going to play in a championship whose all stars are well over thirty. But in the meantime, this Thursday evening, KB9 received a welcome worthy of the biggest stars of world football at Al-Ittihad, a sign that the passion is very present in Saudi Arabia, unlike certain clubs little followed in Qatar or in the Emirates. .
