Last Updated on 06/05/2023 by てんしょく飯
Real Madrid announced on June 4 that former French international Karim Benzema will leave the club at the end of the 2022-23 season.
The striker, who has made his mark on the club’s history, will be leaving the pure white uniform.
In March, the French newspaper “L’Equipe” reported that the two sides had reached an agreement on a one-year contract extension, but no official announcement was made by the club after that. On June 4, it was officially decided that he would be leaving the club at the end of his contract.
Benzema, 35, was born on December 19, 1987, and joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2009 after making his mark in his native Lyon. In his third season with the club, he won his first La Liga title in 2011-12, scoring 32 goals and adding 19 assists in 52 official appearances. In the mid-2010s, he formed a powerful “BBC” trio with fellow Portuguese international Cristiano Ronaldo (now Al Nasr) and former Wales international Gareth Bale, who joined the club in the summer of 2013. In the 2017-18 season, they achieved the unprecedented feat of winning three consecutive CL titles.
He continued to be the mainstay of the front line after the departure of C. Ronaldo and Bale, and last season he scored 44 goals and provided 15 assists in 46 official appearances. He was the top scorer in La Liga and CL, and was the driving force behind the team’s “triple crown” (La Liga, CL, and Supercopa de España). His performance was highly praised, and last year, at the age of 34, he was awarded the Ballon d’Or for the first time. This season, he has played 42 official games, scoring 30 goals and providing 6 assists, despite repeated injury layoffs.
In his 14 years at Real Madrid, Benzema has played a total of 647 official matches. His 353 goals in this period are the second most in the club’s history, behind only C. Ronaldo’s 450. During his tenure with the club, Benzema won a total of 24 titles, including four La Liga titles, five CL titles, and three Copa del Rey titles.
A farewell ceremony will be held on June 6 at 12:00 p.m. (19:00 Japan time). Benzema’s new home is attracting a lot of attention, and according to the latest reports, negotiations with Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia are being finalized.
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