"It's good. I'm happy to be here. After my first training with the team, with the coach, I'm so happy and glad to be a part of this team. It's a good team, with a good history. They have won a lot of trophies. It's similar, like Real Madrid in Asia. Everything is good, the fans are good, they play well, they have good players, they have a good mentality."
"The Al Ittihad deal from the Saudi Pro League, which handles the contracts of the main players in PIF(Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund)-owned clubs, would effectively have seen the 2022 Ballon d'Or winner play for free, sources said. Benzema, who had offers from European clubs, decided to stay in Saudi Arabia, partly because his image right contract there is until 2030."
Karim Benzema joined Al Hilal after turning down a contract extension from Al Ittihad and leaving Al Ittihad at the end of June. He expressed happiness after first training and described Al Hilal as similar to Real Madrid in Asia, praising its history, fans, players and mentality. Sources said Benzema felt disrespected by Al Ittihad's extension offer, which would have effectively seen him play for free under the Saudi Pro League contract system. He had offers from European clubs but stayed in Saudi Arabia partly because his image-right contract runs until 2030. His transfer, orchestrated by PIF, angered Cristiano Ronaldo.
Read at ESPN.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]