Chelsea and Arsenal are reportedly keeping tabs on Real Madrid superstar Karim Benzema, who could be on his way out in the summer of 2017.
Spanish publication Don Balon suggest that Chelsea and Arsenal are monitoring Karim Benzema’s situation at Real Madrid. The French superstar is being tipped to be one of the players to be offloaded in the summer of 2017 to make room for fresh and younger additions to the squad and the Premier League duo are ready to pounce when the opportunity presents itself.
Karim Benzema arrived at Real Madrid for a handsome €30m fee and soon found himself being one of the main stalwarts of Los Blancos’s offence. The 29-year-old, along with Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, or BBC as they are more commonly known, are being considered one of the most lethal attacking trios in the footballing world alongside Barcelona’s MSN – Messi, Suarez, Neymar – trio.
The 29-year-old has been lethal for Los Blancos throughout his career, scoring 168 goals for the club with a ratio of 1 goal in a little less than two games. But the Frenchman’s current deal runs till 2019 and at the age of 29, as per reports, Florentino Perez is ready to cash in on the player.
Perez feels that the player can still command a fee around the £50m mark [figure from Daily Star], to make space for potentially fresher arrivals. The likes of Paulo Dybala and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are being targeted by Perez and Benzema’s sale would not only partially fund the purchase but also do the job of making room for the arrival of either or both of the targets.
Perez is thought to be wanting to add a younger and more dynamic forward to their ranks, which aligns with their recent transfer philosophy of signing high-profile youngsters. Chelsea and Arsenal have been reported to be interested in Benzema with Wenger a long-time admirer of Benzema’s abilities.
Even though Arsenal may have found their answer to the striker conundrum in Alexis Sanchez, Karim Benzema would further free Sanchez to be deployed back on the wings and the Frenchman would be an instant upgrade on Olivier Giroud and summer signing Lucas Perez.
In Chelsea’s case, even though Diego Costa seems to be back to his menacing self, there are still lingering reports that he wants a move back to Atletico Madrid and new signing Michy Batshuayi has been unable to stamp his authority at his new club.
Both Chelsea and Arsenal are likely to be open to the idea of signing Karim Benzema in the summer of 2017, who, even at the age of 29, would be a valuable addition to either club. Another option for Benzema is a move to French giants Paris Saint-Germain, who have been in the search of a striker to replace Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who joined Manchester United in the summer.
Edinson Cavani has been seen to miss some absolute sitters, something which may force PSG’s hand and sign a striker.
For now though, Benzema would hope to contribute to another successful campaign and challenge for multiple silverware in what could turn out to be his final season at Santiago Bernabeu.
