Karim Benzema is parting ways with Al-Hilal only six months into his stay. The veteran French striker is now weighing whether to retire from the sport entirely.
The £17 million promotional trap
The financial architecture of Karim Benzema's stay in Saudi Arabia has created a gilded cage that limits his professional movement. According to the report,the 38-year-old forward receives an annual salary of £18.5 million from Al-Hilal, but this is supplemented by a separate £17 million yearly agreement with the Saudi Pro League itself.
This secondary promotional deal requires Karim Benzema to participate in specific events to promote football within the kingdom. Because this contract still has four years remaining, any move to a club outside of Saudi Arabia would result in the immediate cancellation of that income. This creates a scenario where the French striker is effectively trapped within the domestic league if he wishes to maintain his current earnings.
The £105 million investment in Watkins and Martinelli
Al-Hilal is aggressively pivoting its squad strategy away from aging icons toward players in their athletic prime. The club has already confirmed the signing of England international Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa for £50 million, as the report says.
Further reports indicate that Al-Hilal is on the verge of a £55 million deal to acquire Gabriel Martinelli from Arsenal. By investing over £100 million in these two attackers, the Riyadh-based club is signaling a transition toward a more sustainable, high-energy offensive line, making the departure of a 38-year-old like Karim Benzema a logical step in their rebuilding process.
A financial friction that sparked Cristiano Ronaldo's strike
The arrival of Karim Benzema in the Saudi Pro League has historically acted as a catalyst for instability among other superstar imports. when Benzema joined the league in 2023 via Al-Ittihad, and later moved to Al-Hilal in January, it intensified the financial arms race between the region's top clubs .
This volatility reportedly reached a peak when Cristiano Ronaldo staged a brief strike at Al-Nassr. The Portuguese superstar was said to be dissatisfied that Al-Nassr was not providing financial backing comparable to the packages offered to rivals like Karim Benzema. This pattern reflects a broader trend in Saudi football where the pursuit of global prestige often creates internal friction among the world's highest-paid athletes.
The mystery behind the Al-Shabab and Al-Ittihad rejections
Despite his desire to leave Al-Hilal, Karim Benzema has surprisingly declined multiple opportunities to remain active in the Saudi Pro League. Saudi journalist Waleed Al-Farraj reports that Benzema was offered paths to join Al-Shabab or return to his former club, Al-Ittihad, but he turned both options down.
It remains unclear why these specific clubs were rejected, as the source does not provide the internal reasoning behind the striker's decision. While the report suggests he is leaning toward retirement, it is unknown if these rejections were based on sporting projects, personal preferences, or the inability of those clubs to match his complex pay structure. Furthermore, the source relies heavily on a single journalist's account, leaving the official stance of Al-Hilal or the player's representatives unverified.
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