Benzema leaves Real Madrid after 14 years

The official statement

French Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema will leave Real Madrid at the end of the season after 14 seasons with the Spanish club. The company announced it. “Real Madrid CF and our captain Karim Benzema have reached an agreement to end his brilliant and unforgettable career as a player of our club,” Real Madrid wrote in a statement released just hours before the last match of the league season. Spanish against Athletic Bilbao. Benzema arrived in Madrid from Lyon in 2009 and at the age of 35 has left an indelible mark on the Madrid club, with 25 titles to his name, including five Champions Leagues. The last European title, in 2022, opened the door to the Ballon d’Or, the first for a French player since Zine’dine Zidane in 1998. This season, he failed to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League League against Manchester City. Benzema, who remained in the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo for a long time during the Portuguese years in Madrid, took command of the attack of the blacons after the departure of CR7 in 2018. Currently, behind his former teammate, he is the second scorer of the club history, with 353 goals.

“Karim Benzema’s career at Real Madrid was an example of behavior and professionalism and perfectly represented the values ​​of our club. Karim Benzema has earned the right to decide his futureReal explained in its press release, suggesting that Benzema himself has decided not to extend his contract. For several days his name has been linked to Saudi Arabia, where he was allegedly promised a golden bridge to conclude his career. “Why should I talk about my future? I’m in Madrid. Whoever speaks does so on the Internet, and reality is not the Internet”, replied Benzema at a ceremony in tribute to his career organized by the Spanish sports newspaper Marca. Just three days after this comment, the forward’s future is partly decided: it will not be written in Madrid Real announced that a tribute to their player will be held on Tuesday at 12, in the presence of the club’s president Florentino Perez.
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