• February Saudi Arabia tempts Ramos, Modric and Benzema: two years, 60 million net and no taxes

A whirlwind has shaken Valdebebas. With the season already over, pending only the last league match against Athletic, reflected the defeat in Champions against Manchester City, assumed the domestic title of Barça, celebrated the Copa del Rey and assured the continuity of Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid has found itself face to face with a problem that conditions all its planning for this summer. Karim Benzema, captain of the team and legend of the club, is thinking whether or not to continue in the capital of Spain next season tempted by a multimillion-dollar offer from the Government of Saudi Arabia.

The Frenchman has agreed, agreed and sealed his renewal with Madrid for months until June 2024, at which time the Brazilian Endrick, Palmeiras striker signed for 30 million euros, would arrive. That is the plan of the technical direction of the Bernabéu together with the signing of a veteran substitute striker to replace Mariano while observing the evolution of the academy player Álvaro Rodríguez and Rodrygo is maintained as a variant in the attack.

However, Saudi Arabia insists and makes Benzema doubt. Last February, EL MUNDO reported exclusively on the offer that the Saudi Government had put on Benzema's table: a two-season contract at a rate of 30 million net for each of them. All this exempt from taxes, not including image rights, which would all be for the player, and added an extra in the future for being an ambassador of the Saudi candidacy for the 2030 World Cup, the key to all this. The country wants to host the World Cup and is putting all the money possible to get it. He has already signed Cristiano Ronaldo and is on his way to signing Leo Messi by giving them all the facilities: choice of city and team, residence in a private neighborhood... They would also do so with the captain of Madrid.

Benzema's first decision had been to reject the offer, at least for this summer, but his irregularity in the last months of the season and the improvement of the conditions of the Saudis have made him reconsider, as Relevo reported and this newspaper can confirm: he would earn three times more a year than with the contract he would have in Madrid, touching 100 million net per course.

In Madrid there is a strange feeling, and that says a lot. On the one hand they trust and want the continuity of the footballer, right eye of Florentino Pérez, leader of the dressing room and perfect piece for the current attack, where the Brazilians act as a spark and the French as the main axis. On the other hand, they need the best physical version of Benzema, something that was not seen in the last stretch of the season, where the club did not finish understanding some of his performances. The Frenchman did not speak before the cup final or after the defeat against City.

If he finally asks to leave, Madrid will hurt, but he will put all the facilities he needs continuing with a relationship that has been extraordinary since the French landed in Chamartín. In the club, with a market without too many alternatives (Kane, Lautaro, Osimhen), they already work on two realities: with and without Benzema.

  • Saudi Arabia
  • Cristiano Ronaldo
  • Leo Messi
  • Real Madrid
  • THE WORLD
  • Mariano Diaz

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