JAKARTA - Karim Benzema has finally officially followed his former partner at Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo, to the Saudi Arabian League. The French player has signed a three-year contract with Al-Ittihad.
This was confirmed by the club based in Jeddah on their Twitter social media accounts on Wednesday, July 7.
"Benzema is here. The new tiger will accompany you. Welcome to Al-Ittihad," tweeted Al Ittihad's official Twitter account.
🚨نقدم لكم نجمنا الجديد، البنز! مستعد لإضاءة الجوهرة قريباً ⚽️💥 #Benzema2Ittihad#here2inspireKSA pic.twitter.com/pDHzcRjbUq
— نادي الاتحاد السعودي (@ittihad) June 6, 2023
"You can't believe it, why don't you think about it, stay with it, don't worry about it, don't worry about it, don't worry about it! Let's take care of it, let's take care of it," he said.. #Benzema2Ittihad#here2inspireKSA pic.twitter.com/pDHzcRjbUq
Benzema's announcement comes days after Real Madrid said Benzema would leave the club after playing there for 14 seasons, a day after Real Carlo coach Ancelotti confirmed that Benzema's future is at the Spanish capital club.
Benzema joined Real in 2009 from French League club Olympique Lyon.
He made 648 appearances for Real and is in second place in Real's all-time top scorer list with 354 goals. Benzema only lost to Ronaldo in the number of goals for Real.
He has lifted the Champions League trophy five times, four Spanish League titles, and three King Cups with Los Blancos.
But after a brilliant performance in the 2021/2022 season when he led Real to win the Champions League and earned him a Ballon d'Or, he was bothered with injury problems and failed to defend France at the 2022 World Cup due to thigh problems.
Benzema had a farewell event at Real's training ground on Tuesday, June 6.
"It hurts because I have dreams in my head, to be recruited by Madrid and end my career in Madrid. But sometimes life gives you other opportunities," he said at the time.
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Benzema became Ronaldo's rival who last year moved from Manchester United to Al Nasr.
Lionel Messi, who will leave PSG after playing for two seasons, is also linked with a move to Saudi Arabia, as reported by Antara.
Senior officials from another Saudi Arabian club, Al Hilal, have flown to France to sign Messi after the Argentine played his final game at PSG last weekend. This was confirmed by two club sources to AFP on Sunday, July 4.
The Saudi Arabian delegation plans to meet Messi's father and his agent, Jorge, with the aim of getting the player's signature as soon as possible.
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