Increasingly criticized in Saudi Arabia, and not called up for the next Al-Ittihad match, Karim Benzema would have slammed the door this Friday.
The stats are not catastrophic: nine goals in 15 Saudi Pro League matches (12 in 20 outings in all competitions), Karim Benzema certainly does not do as well as Ronaldo (19 goals), Aleksandar Mitrovic (17) or even Georges- Kevin N’Koudou (14), but the person concerned is not completely lost in the figures. In recent weeks, it is rather in the attitude, in the anger (not) displayed on the pitch, that the former Merengue stands out. At his expense.
“ It is true that we expected more from Benzema, but we remain aware of his value as a world-class player », confided in recent hours an executive from the Jeddah team, on condition of anonymity and thus relayed by RMC. A manager who half-heartedly admits to a clash between the 36-year-old attacker and his management after the affair arising from his tweet of support for Gaza and the controversy fueled by the French Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin. “ Management met with him at the time and asked him to calm down… »
He left Jeddah!
Since then, by chance or coincidence, the performances of the 2022 Ballon d’Or have been affected. “ He may be at odds with the club, but that doesn’t excuse him as he makes no effort, misses very easy chances and seems to have lost the desire to play footballnotes Saudi sports journalist Abdel Karim Al-Jasser. Benzema was affected by the situation at Al-Ittihad in general. The competition with Abderrazak Hamdallah makes him nervous and does not motivate him. »
This Friday, the situation became even more tense since the former Lyonnais, who did not participate in the last two training sessions of his club, would have left Jeddah without any explanation – reports the Saudi media Al-Riyadiya – upset obviously not having been selected by Marcelo Gallardo for the championship match scheduled for Saturday. Already two days ago, KB9 had deactivated his Instagram account with 76 million followers. A sign of deep discomfort.
