August 20, (THEWILL) – French forward for La Liga’s Real Madrid, Karim Benzema, has extended his stay at the Santiago Bernabeu by signing a one-year contract extension, keeping him with the Spanish giants until 2023, at the earliest.
Ever since the football icon Cristiano Ronaldo left the club in 2018, Benzema has been in incredible form, freed from the shadow of the proficient Portuguese. For the last three seasons, he has turned in 20+ goals while registering assists in the 20+ score range as well.
Zinedine Zidane, as manager of the side recently reaped from that form which the French international has resumed this current campaign without change in the manner of getting goals. He netted a brace in Los Blancos’ opening day victory over Alaves in the season opener.
Rumours about a Benzema exit were in the news for a while as speculation over his future especially as his contract was due to expire next year. All that is now in the past, after he extended his stay at the Santiago Bernabeu by a further year to take his stay to a 14th year with the Spanish giants.
It has been a season of conserving the stay of Real’s experienced hands as his extension comes days after similar agreements were reached with Dani Carvajal and Thibaut Courtois. But one-year contract terms remain in place for Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Isco and they could choose to walk away for free at the end of the 2021/2022 campaign.
Their place could be taken by the high-profile arrivals planned out by Real for next summer transfers. Their chase for long term target Kylian Mbappe remains a high priority, as is that of Manchester United’s Paul Pogba. These pair of players are out of contract in July at their clubs though rival French side Paris Saint-Germain have both in their sights.
Apart from these moves, it has been a relatively quiet transfer business for the Santiago Bernabeu club. They made an early move to bring David Alaba on a free transfer to the Spanish side after his Bayern Munich contract expired this year.
On the other hand, some notable departures have been recorded, topmost of which was the exit of Sergio Ramos. The iconic centre back joined PSG following the expiration of his contract, while long-time centre-back partner Raphael Varane signed for Manchester United.
On Friday, Martin Odegaard was confirmed as an Arsenal player as he joined the Gunners from Real on a permanent deal after the impressive half season he spent in London on a loan basis.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
