Former Real Madrid star Karim Benzema has staged a strike at Saudi club Al-Ittihad after rejecting what he called an “insulting” contract extension proposal, sources close to the matter revealed Thursday, amid tensions over his lucrative deal despite a solid scoring record this season.
The 38-year-old French forward, who joined the Jeddah-based side in 2023 on a weekly wage of 1.61 million pounds, deemed the new offer tantamount to playing “for free” initially, with payments tied solely to image rights revenue, prompting him to pull out of the squad for a 2-2 league draw against Al Fateh.
Benzema, whose current contract runs until the end of the 2025-26 campaign, has since been training apart from his teammates, though both he and the club reportedly aim to salvage the relationship.
Head coach Sergio Conceicao sidestepped questions on the rift, saying: “You should go to the management with those questions. I’m only here to train the players, officiate matches, and win trophies.”
He praised Benzema’s contributions, adding: “Karim is a fantastic professional. He’s a fantastic player who scored 13 goals in 17 matches under my guidance. I’m proud to be his manager.”
The 2022 Ballon d’Or winner has netted eight goals in 14 appearances under Conceicao, helping Al-Ittihad to sixth place in the Saudi Pro League, but speculation swirls over a possible January transfer as the window unfolds.
Benzema ranks as the world’s third-highest-paid footballer at 85 million pounds annually, trailing Lionel Messi’s 96.9 million at Inter Miami and Cristiano Ronaldo’s 194 million at Al-Nassr.
