The Ballon d’Or, Karim Benzema, left Real Madrid at the end of the season. He signed on Tuesday with the Saudi club Al Ittihad for a period of 3 years, but above all for the tidy sum of 100 million euros per year.
On his Instagram page, Real Madrid star Karim Benzema shared some photos of the welcome worthy of his journey at the King Abdallah Stadium, in the presence of 62,000 fans. Amid applause, Benzema even presented his Ballon d’Or to the audience.
If the sum of 100 million euros per year granted by the Saudi club Al Ittihad to the French striker certainly helped to convince him to offer an end to his career in the Gulf, this is not the only reason, apparently. he.
Indeed, on a video shared by his new club, the French player of Algerian origin confided that he chose to join the club of Al-Ittihad Jeddah in Saudi Arabia because he is Muslim and Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country.
” Makkah is where I will feel my best, and I want to be fluent in Arabic in the future (…) We need to show the world that football in Saudi Arabia has an influence on a global scale . As for my family, they are very happy with this decision and the transfer to Saudi Arabia“, said the champion.
And to add: Al Jawhara Stadium is exceptional, and as I said before, there is a lot of passion there, and the fans are the most important element. This passion gives us, as players, the motivation to become the best on the pitch.“.
In conclusion, Benzema said: “ What I can bring here is my football experience, and more importantly, the possibility of winning titles. I like to win titles, and I want to help the club progress to a higher position than it currently occupies, although it is already in the lead. It’s an exciting club and it’s at the top“.