Real Madrid News
Karim Benzema expected to be back at Real Madrid on December 9 – report
Over the past couple of days, there has been a lot written about Real Madrid superstar Karim Benzema and his recovery from the latest injury setback he suffered.
The 34-year-old sustained a quadriceps injury in his left thigh while in Qatar for the FIFA World Cup 2022 with France. Having been ruled out of involvement in the competition, the striker left the French camp on November 20 and had been back in Madrid.
And recent reports indicated that Benzema had ‘practically recovered’ from his injury and could return to training this week.
Soon after, reports followed that the 34-year-old could possibly return to the France camp to participate in the latter stages of the World Cup if he recovers sufficiently.
However, France manager Didier Deschamps put those speculations to rest, insisting that he has no plans to recall Benzema at this point as the striker still continues to recover from his injury.
Meanwhile, the possibility of him returning to training with the Real Madrid players who have not travelled to the World Cup has also been shot down by a fresh report from L’Equipe.
As per the report, Benzema, who is currently away on a vacation at the Reunion Islands, is only expected to be back in Madrid on December 9, thus ruling out the possibility of him resuming training with Carlo Ancelotti later this week.
The Italian tactician will reconvene training for the Real Madrid stars who are not involved in the World Cup from Thursday as preparations for the second half of the season.
But, as things stand, Benzema is only expected to be back in the Spanish capital on December 9.
The Real Madrid camp will be hoping that the time off will help Benzema put all his injury issues behind him and start afresh in the second half of the campaign.
According to reports from Mario Cortegana (h/t Madrid Zone), Real Madrid have two objectives for the upcoming summer transfer window. The centre-forward and the right-wing position are seen as the two positions to be reinforced but no decision has been made yet about making a move.
This comes over and above the Merengues’ pre-existing need for new midfielders and full-backs in the coming windows.
At first sight, it may appear that Los Blancos are well stacked in the final third. In Vinicius Jr, Karim Benzema and Rodrygo Goes, they have three starting quality players who are well-complemented by the likes of Marco Asensio and Federico Valverde.
Yet, Vinicius is the only player on the aforementioned list who can boast of a starting role in a fixed position for at least the next decade.
There is worry over the centre-forward role considering Benzema’s lack of form and fitness throughout the current campaign. With the Ballon d’Or winner already 35, the club need a young reinforcement soon which is evident with the team’s struggle for goals this term.
Los Blancos have already invested heavily in Endrick in this regard. However, that has not stopped them from following established options like Dusan Vlahovic and Erling Haaland as their Brazilian wonderkid will not arrive until 2024.
The right wing is also understaffed despite the presence of young Rodrygo and Fede Valverde. The duo have no dearth of talent but have not managed to click on the wing as well as the manager would have liked.
Thus, it remains to be seen as to who the club targets to strengthen the wing and aim to stretch the play. Given the heavy investment planned for Jude Bellingham, a low-cost option is likely to be considered.
