Arsenal legend manager Arsene Wenger recommended the recruitment of ‘Ballon d’Or winner’ Karim Benzema (Al Ittihad) to his former team.
Global media ‘Tribuna’ reported on the 14th (Korean time)
Legendary former Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger said Karim Benzema should be Arsenal’s preferred signing this January.”
Arsenal, ranked 4th in the Premier League in the 2023-24 season, is considering signing a new striker during the January winter transfer window.
This season, Arsenal’s lack of a reliable goal scorer at the front line has emerged as a problem.
The current top scorer in the Arsenal league is Bukayo Saka with 6 goals and 7 assists.
Eddie Nketiah followed with 5 goals, and Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus only scored 3 goals and 1 assist in the league during the first half of the season.
This contrasts sharply with the situation of competing teams. Liverpool, which is leading the Premier League 바카라사이트닷컴
has Mohamed Salah with 14 goals, and second-place Manchester City striker Erling Haaland also scored 14 goals.
At archrival Tottenham, Son Heung-min (12 goals) succeeded in scoring double digits.
With the strikers failing to score goals, Arsenal looked for a new striker they could sign during the winter transfer window.
At this time, Wenger attracted attention by recommending Benzema, who had recently been struggling in Saudi Arabia
to his former team, which he had led for 22 years.
Wenger, who said he wanted to sign Benzema when he led Arsenal, praised Benzema, saying,
Benzema was the ideal frontline striker because he played based on passing and link-up play.”
“Sometimes there are strikers who have a negative influence on their teammates even if they score goals
but Benzema is a striker who makes his teammates better,” he said. “He is not a player who has a negative influence.
If Benzema is in the squad, I will play with him. “I want to,” he added.
Veteran striker Benzema, born in 1987, was an undisputed world-class forward during his prime.
As a starting striker for Real Madrid, one of the world’s best clubs, he scored 354 goals and 165 assists in 648 games. In 2022, he even won his first Ballon d’Or.
Benzema, who has played for Real since 2009, left the club after 14 years last summer and moved to Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad.
His contract period runs until 2026, and the American ‘ESPN’ explained, “Benzema will receive 400 million euros (about 550 billion won) for two years from Al Ittihad.”
Benzema, who entered the Saudi Professional League with high expectations, sparked transfer rumors less than a year after his move. Not only is he falling short of fans’ expectations
having scored only 12 goals and 5 assists in 20 games to date, but he also caused controversy by failing to attend training recently.
Regarding this, ‘Tribuna’ said, “Benzema has already been absent from training for six days. January 12 was set as a return date
but as it did not happen, Al Ittihad excluded Benzema from the pre-season list,” he said.
He is currently with his wife. He claimed that he was enjoying a vacation in Mauritius with his wife and was unable to leave the country due to a tropical storm.”
As speculation arose that Benzema might return to Europe about six months after going to Saudi Arabia
Wenger strongly recommended Benzema to Arsenal, which is struggling with a front-line striker problem.
Meanwhile, ignoring Wenger’s recommendation, Mikel Arteta, the current Arsenal head coach
dismissed the possibility of signing a striker, saying, “Recruiting a new striker is not a realistic option.
Their sluggish performance is probably a psychological problem.”