Jordan Henderson left Saudi Arabia and no one really cared. The Englishman never adapted to his new life and left as quickly as he arrived. Karim Benzema is also uncomfortable in his new club. The Ballon d’Or suffers from the lack of competitiveness of a team, Al-Ittihad, and from a championship which does not fit well with the level of demands which allowed him to build an immense career. The Frenchman could have suspected this before setting a toe in the Kingdom. But today, he is brooding and wants something else. Even at 36, the man with an impeccable lifestyle still seduces.
And Manchester United is not the only European team capable of offering him one last big contract. Except that Karim Benzema is not Jordan Henderson. Their situations do not cover the same issues and there is no question for Saudi Arabia of letting go of the one on which it has bet so much this summer (200 million euros over two seasons). L’Equipe tells us this Saturday that the bosses of Saudi football do not want to hear about a departure for Europe.
Benzema at OL, a utopia? “Lacazette is the best paid there with a salary ten times lower…”
In the front row of the window
A position that is easily explained. With Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema is in the front row of the window. The man with five Champions Leagues embodies the ambition of the Kingdom, to free him is to display his weakness and take the risk of putting a real dent in the gigantic project which should make Saudi Arabia the host country of the 2030 World Cup. To extricate itself from the situation, the PIF (public investment fund which manages the investments of the four largest clubs in the country) intends to stick its nose into the situation. The solution envisaged would consist of exfiltrating Benzema from Al-Ittihad to place him in one of the other big clubs on the Arabian peninsula.
As his club does not need money, only image counts in this transaction, the Frenchman will have a hard time getting out of his gargantuan contract. It is now time for the Old Continent to come to terms with it.
2024-01-27 10:49:23
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