OFFICIAL: Real Madrid renew Benzema

He was set to be the next to renew and that has what has happened. Several Real Madrid players have penned new contracts recently and Karim Benzema was the one to do it this Friday. The French striker's contract was running until 30th June 2022 and now he has extended it for another year, until 2023. 

The club are continuing to renew their footballers, something which they have been doing for the last few months. At the end of May, Luka Modric was the first to sign a new deal and Lucas Vázquez, Nacho Fernández, Dani Carvajal and Thibaut Courtois have all since followed suit.

Benzema, 33, has begun his 13th season as a Real Madrid player and he could not have begun it in better fashion. He netted a brace in Madrid's 1-4 win at Alaves at Mendizorroza on matchday one. 

He has begun the season by showing what he showed last year. The Frenchman scored 30 times and got nine assists in a total of 46 games last term. His performances at the club in recent seasons earned him a prize he had been earning for some time: return to the French national team. He had not played for France since 2015, but he then played at the Euros and he scored four times at the tournament. 

Since Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid, the '9' made a step up when it came to taking responsibility and scoring goals. He has been the main man up front for a team who have depended heavily on him. It seems like he will keep on having that responsibility unless another player, like Mbappe, is brought in this summer. 

Benzema, up to now, has made 560 competitive appearances for Real Madrid. In them, he has scored a total of 281 goals and 119 assists. As well as these numbers, he shows lots of quality and elegance on the field of play. Many agree that he cannot be classed just as a number 9, but that he also has many qualities of a number 10 as well. 

Madrid got hold of him in summer 2009. Before then, Karim had only played for Lyon, a club he was at for five seasons, and he played 148 matches. He scored 66 goals in that time.

 

August 20, 2021