Karim Benzema played his last match on Sunday evening in the colors of Real Madrid before leaving for Saudi Arabia, where he will end his career despite a final reminder from OL, his training club.
After 14 years at Real Madrid, Karim Benzema will join Saudi Arabia, who offered him a delirious two-year contract with a salary of around 200 million euros net annually. A proposal that “KB9” could not refuse, at the height of his 35 years and as the end of his immense career approaches. Benzema leaves Real Madrid as a legend, at the height of his career, just months after winning the ultimate individual award: the Ballon d’Or.
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For football lovers, this departure of the native of Lyon to Saudi Arabia is heartbreaking. Jean-Michel Aulas tried to avoid this by keeping Karim Benzema in Europe. On the antenna of France Info, the former president of Olympique Lyonnais has confirmed maneuvers in recent weeks to try to repatriate the “Nueve” to Lyon so that he ends his career there.
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But like Real Madrid, the Lyon club could not do anything to avoid the departure of Karim Benzema to Saudi Arabia, where he will touch a real golden bridge during the next two seasons. “You have to fully respect your choice, which is a choice of success. I am surprised, but very happy for Karim who made this decision in his soul and conscience. It’s an opportunity for this fantastic boy to be able to reach the summits in terms of his retraining, in terms of the end of his career.” confided Jean-Michel Aulas before concluding.
Aulas tried to bring Benzema back to OL
“Saudi Arabia wants to build an absolutely incredible league. Karim made the choice to put an end to an exceptional career by giving his family, his loved ones the possibility of apprehending things that could not be accessible in recent years. I would have preferred him to finish in Lyon, but you have to be realistic. Saudi Arabia right now is making proposals that no one else could make before,” believes the former president of OL, who dreamed of bringing back Karim Benzema like Alexandre Lacazette or Corentin Tolisso last season. But the step was too high to conclude the return to the club of the legend of Real Madrid.
