French striker Karim Benzema asked to leave “temporarily” from his Saudi club, Al-Ittihad Jeddah, due to “suffering under pressure,” as a source close to the club revealed to “Agence France-Presse.”
The source clarified that Benzema turned down a loan from the Jeddah Federation to play for a different Saudi League team because he didn't feel like he could give the Federation his all.
A source close to Benzema did not want to confirm the news of his request to leave.
Benzema (36 years old)’s contract with Al-Ittihad expires in 2026.
Benzema had been away from his team for weeks, before taking a 3-day leave for “special circumstances,” then he traveled to Madrid on December 28 after deactivating his Instagram account, where 76 million people follow him.
Another person close to the problem claims that the Frenchman, who won the Ballon d'Or in 2022, spent days on the African island of Mauritius before last Monday.
The source told Agence France-Presse, “Benzema arrived 17 days late on Thursday. He was supposed to return on January 2,” adding that the club is “very angry about what happened, after losing contact with him for 10 days.”