Manchester United Cancels Plan To Recruit Karim Benzema

Manchester United canceled signing striker Al-Ittihad Karim Benzema. (Instagram @ittihadclub.sa)

JAKARTA - The issue of Manchester United wanting to recruit Al-Ittihad striker Karim Benzema, had surfaced. However, MU canceled the plan.

MU does need a senior striker to accompany Rasmus Hojlund who is alone on the front lines. Moreover, Anthony Martial is injured again and will be sidelined for several weeks.

However, Martial is no longer needed by MU. He will be released because his contract has been completed. In fact, Manager Erik ten Hag asked this French striker to undergo separate training.

When the center forward crisis emerged, the news that MU was eyeing Benzema surfaced. Moreover, the former Real Madrid striker hopes to follow in Jordan Henderson's footsteps by leaving Saudi Arabia.

Benzema reportedly doesn't feel at home in the Middle East even though he gets a very high salary. After playing in the Arab Professional League with Al-Ittihad over the past six months, Benzema wants to return to Europe.

This opportunity is about to be caught by MU. Not only The Red Devils, another Premier League club, Chelsea, are also interested in this 36-year-old player. Benzema also gave a green signal, especially hoping to join MU.

In fact, Benzema had time to remember the memory when approached by Manchester United's legendary manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.

At that time, Ferguson wanted to use Cristiano Ronaldo's sales money to Real Madrid to buy players. Benzema is Ferguson's target.

However, the plan was cancelled. Benzema instead followed Ronaldo to Madrid. Both of them became the mainstay pillars of Los Blancos for a decade.

However, the plan to bring Benzema from Al-Ittihad to Old Trafford was suddenly canceled even though the club needed a center forward. Cancellations have been made before the negotiation process.

Investigates have an investigation, MU seems to be hit by Benzema's high salary at Al-Ittihad. Yes, this former Lyon striker pocketed a salary of up to 86 million annually. This means that large funds are needed to bring Benzema.

MU seems very careful with the player's salary budget. The club doesn't want the player's salary sector to exceed the rules from Financial Fair Play.

MU does not want to have the same fate as the neighboring team, Manchester City, which is threatened with sanctions for violating more than 100 rules related to Financial Fair Play.

Although it is not yet known whether Man City was found guilty or not, the club is threatened with severe punishment if it is proven to have committed a violation.

Benzema is actually the ideal person to accompany Hojlund. Apart from being full of experience, he has also won various trophies.

While playing in the Arab League, Benzema still showed his sharpness. He scored 12 goals from 20 matches. Only, his club is still stuck in seventh place in the standings.

Benzema's speculation of discomfort was revealed when he was late to return to Saudi Arabia after the winter holiday. Even the former French national team striker was late for 17 days.

He was also reported to want to leave Arabia. However, Benzema denied the news. He called the news 'not true'.

Meanwhile, Benzema actually looked enthusiastic when MU and Chelsea were interested in bringing him from Saudi Arabia.