"A friend who shows that Saudi Arabia is starting to get ahead" - Karim Benzema makes Cristiano Ronaldo claim as he completes Al-Ittihad move
Karim Benzema has claimed that he is looking forward to his time in the Middle East as he has Cristiano Ronaldo there. He added that it was a good league with many good players and wants to win.
Al-Ittihad signed Benzema on Tuesday (June 6) after he announced his Real Madrid departure. The Frenchman called it quits on his 14-year career at Santiago Bernabeu as he wanted a fresh challenge.
Speaking at his unveiling at the Saudi Arabian club, Benzema claimed that he was looking forward to seeing the fans in Jeddah. He spoke about Cristiano Ronaldo and added (via GOAL):
“It's a good league and there are many good players. Cristiano Ronaldo is already here, he is a friend who shows that Saudi Arabia is starting to get ahead and I am here to win as I did in Europe and I look forward to seeing the fans in Jeddah.”
Benzema and Ronaldo played 342 matches together at Real Madrid and combined for 76 goals.
Karim Benzema wanted to retire at Real Madrid
Karim Benzema bid an emotional farewell to Real Madrid on Tuesday. The Frenchman admitted that he was looking to retire at the club, but things changed quickly.
He said (via MARCA):
"It's a bit of a sad day because I'm leaving my club. I signed for Madrid and I wanted to retire here, but it didn't happen that way. I will always be a Madrid fan. Thanks also to the fans who always gave me this strength. Thank you all, really."
Karim Benzema added:
"Florentino, when I saw you, I thought to myself that he was the man who brought Ronaldo and [Zinedine] Zidane. It's incredible," he said. "The most important thing for me is that everything I've won, I savoured it like a child. As I said during my presentation 'one, two and three, hala Madrid!'"
Al-Ittihad won the Saudi Pro League this season and are looking to add more players. Reports in CaughtOffside have stated that N'Golo Kante is close to joining, while the club are also interested in Wilfried Zaha.
PIF (Public Investment Fund) has announced that they have acquired four top clubs in Saudi Arabia - Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli, Al-Nassr, and Al-Hilal. PIF will be controlling the clubs' partnerships and sponsors. They also own Newcastle United and El Mundoes have claimed they will be investing over $20 billion into the clubs.