Real Madrid News
Benzema inquired Ronaldo about Saudi and agreed on a transfer, but backed down
Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabia has triggered a wave of massive establishment within the country so much so that the league has approached players like Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Sergio Ramos and even Karim Benzema.
Benzema’s departure from Real Madrid is imminent and if a report from Diaro AS is to be believed, the Frenchman contacted his former Madrid teammate, Ronaldo, to ask him for information about the Saudi league, living conditions and other teams.
All this because it is said that the legendary Frenchman has received a lucrative offer from the newly crowned Saudi Pro League champions Al Ittihad. As reported before, the star striker will earn more than €100 million per year across his two-year contract with the Saudi team.
At the moment, the Saudi government has approved all of Benzema’s requests and while it is said that he can join the team of his choice, Al Ittihad’s recent flirting had made them absolute favourites.
That said, the transfer may have taken a u-turn recently, as Benzema spoke about staying at Real Madrid for the foreseeable future.
“Speak to the fans? Speak about what? Why should I speak of the future if I’m in Madrid?”, Benzema said.
“It’s the internet speaking, and reality is not the internet.”
In a recent turn of events, Helder Costa openly spoke about Benzema’s arrival, saying that his team is ‘excited about the arrival of the Balon d’Or winner.’ As if that is not enough, a club fan also showed a Karim Benzema edit on the big screen during their title celebrations.
Meanwhile, since the transfer is not confirmed, Real Madrid continue to be uninformed of Benzema’s decision. And this remains a major problem for the team from the capital city as their summer transfer plan hinges on the continuity of the Frenchman.
At the moment, the team is said to be closing in on the signing of Joselu from Espanyol. However, it must be noted that the forward will only be arriving on a season-long loan as Madrid already have big plans for the summer of 2024, with Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe both lined up.
There just does not appear to be any respite from injuries for Real Madrid.
Just when it appeared that they were close to having their full squad – barring the two long-term absentees – the Merengues have been struck down by fresh injuries this week.
Arda Guler, who was on the cusp of being named in the squad for the Las Palmas clash, injured himself in training on Tuesday.
And now, during the game against Las Palmas at the Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid have lost key defender David Alaba to an injury.
Close to the 40th-minute mark, Alaba went down on the ground clutching his leg and appeared to be in quite a bit of discomfort.
Soon enough, the medical staff arrived to take a look at the Austrian and seconds later he was off the pitch and straight towards the tunnel.
Lucas Vazquez came on to replace the injured Alaba, with Nacho Fernandez moving into the centre-back position alongside Antonio Rudiger.
Alaba’s injury leaves Carlo Ancelotti with just two fit centre-backs in Rudiger and Nacho, which is set to be a matter of great concern.
The hope will be that Alaba’s condition is nothing serious and that he is able to mount a quick recovery.
