{"id":72987,"date":"2023-06-02T16:10:01","date_gmt":"2023-06-02T16:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/06\/02\/karim-benzema-to-join-ronaldo-in-saudi-arabia-as-real-madrid-contract-nears-expiration\/"},"modified":"2023-06-02T16:10:01","modified_gmt":"2023-06-02T16:10:01","slug":"karim-benzema-to-join-ronaldo-in-saudi-arabia-as-real-madrid-contract-nears-expiration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/06\/02\/karim-benzema-to-join-ronaldo-in-saudi-arabia-as-real-madrid-contract-nears-expiration\/","title":{"rendered":"Karim Benzema to join Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia as Real Madrid contract nears expiration \u00bb \u2122-"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span class=\"td-adspot-title\">&#8211;  &#8211;<\/span><br \/>\n<!-- ResponsiveAll --><\/p>\n<p>When his Real Madrid contract expires this month, Karim Benzema is expected to join Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi Arabian league, according to sources who spoke to ESPN. <\/p>\n<p>ESPN had reported that in January, Benzema was given a two-year deal for \u20ac400 million to move to Saudi Arabia. <\/p>\n<p>The same offer was made to Cristiano Ronaldo, who left Manchester United and joined Al Nassr. Benzema, 35, has spent 14 seasons on the Bernabeu\u2019s roster. <\/p>\n<p><span class=\"td-adspot-title\">&#8211;  &#8211;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>He has also won the 2022 Ballon d\u2019Or, five Champions Leagues, four LaLiga titles, and the second-most goals for the squad during that span. Rather than playing for Madrid for one more season until June 2024 as had been planned, the center-forward chose to accept a new challenge.<\/p>\n<p>When his Real Madrid contract expires this month, sources have told ESPN that Karim Benzema plans to rejoin Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi Arabian league. ESPN had reported that Benzema has signed a two-year, \u20ac400 million contract to move to Saudi Arabia in January. <\/p>\n<p>Also receiving a comparable offer was Cristiano Ronaldo, who left Manchester United and joined Al Nassr. Benzema, 35, has spent 14 seasons as a player for the Bernabeu. In that period, he has assisted on the team\u2019s second-most goals, won four LaLiga titles, five Champions Leagues, and the 2022 Ballon d\u2019Or. Instead of deciding to play with Madrid for one more season until June 2024 as had been planned, the center-forward chose to take on a new challenge.<\/p>\n<p>The centre-forward decided to take on a new challenge rather than continue playing for Madrid for one more season until June 2024 as had been anticipated. However, Madrid will hunt for someone else to bolster the assault. Madrid is in advanced talks to sign Joselu on a loan to replace Mariano Diaz. On Thursday, as he accepted the Marca Legends award at a ceremony, Benzema declined to comment on the rumors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy do I need to talk about my future? I am at Real Madrid. Not everything that you read on the internet is reality,\u201d he said. \u201cFor the time being I\u2019m here. I\u2019m enjoying my time. There is a game on Saturday, and I train tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Madrid\u2019s club captain has had an injury-hit season \u2014 missing the 2022\u00a0World Cup\u00a0in Qatar with a hamstring problem \u2014 but still scored 18 goals in 23 LaLiga appearances, as well as four goals in the Champions League knockout stage.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"td-adspot-title\">&#8211;  &#8211;<\/span><br \/>\n<!-- ResponsiveAll --><\/p>\n<p>Benzema joined Madrid from\u00a0Lyon\u00a0in 2009 as one of Europe\u2019s highest-rated young forwards. He initially had to compete with Gonzalo Higuain for a place in the side, before becoming a part of Madrid\u2019s iconic \u201cBBC\u201d forward line alongside\u00a0Gareth Bale\u00a0and Ronaldo.<\/p>\n<p>Asked whether he plans to speak to the Madrid fans about his future, he said: \u201cSpeak of what? \u201cWhat am I going to discuss? What is being said is from the internet, and reality is not internet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was a child when I arrived at Real Madrid, I was 21 years old. I just wanted to enjoy myself and look at all that I have won. There is no other club like Real Madrid, playing at the Santiago Bernabeu, the place where the greatest of this sport have played. I\u2019m very proud of my career.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe road to the Champions League last year was special. I don\u2019t know if it will happen again, but it\u2019s the best road I\u2019ve experienced. When I\u2019m on the field, I feel like they [Bernabeu fans] love me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFootball is about enjoyment, the day I go to [Madrid\u2019s training ground] Valdebebas and it feels like work, I will give it up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After Ronaldo left the team in 2018, Benzema became into the team\u2019s primary goal threat. He scored the most goals of his career in 2021\u201322, leading LaLiga with 27, and adding another 15 in the Champions League. His performance earned him the Ballon d\u2019Or in October 2022.<\/p>\n<p><!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.71 --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8211; &#8211; When his Real Madrid contract expires this month, Karim Benzema is expected to join Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi Arabian league, according to sources who spoke to ESPN. ESPN had reported that in January, Benzema was given a two-year deal for \u20ac400 million to move to Saudi Arabia. The same offer was made [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Karim Benzema to join Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia as Real Madrid contract nears expiration \u00bb \u2122- Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/06\/02\/karim-benzema-to-join-ronaldo-in-saudi-arabia-as-real-madrid-contract-nears-expiration\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Karim Benzema to join Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia as Real Madrid contract nears expiration \u00bb \u2122- Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&#8211; &#8211; When his Real Madrid contract expires this month, Karim Benzema is expected to join Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi Arabian league, according to sources who spoke to ESPN. 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