Karim Benzema, the Ballon d’Or winner, has signed a three-year contract with Saudi Arabian champions Al-Ittihad after leaving Real Madrid.
Benzema won 25 trophies, including five Champions Leagues and four La Ligas, during his 14-year tenure at Madrid, but the club agreed to let him leave a year early. He is the second-highest scorer for Real Madrid with 354 goals, behind Cristiano Ronaldo, who now plays for Al-Nassr, another Saudi Arabian club.
Read more: Saudi unveils sports investment project as PIF takes over leading football clubs
Benzema sees his move to Al-Ittihad as a new challenge and project and is determined to continue winning, just as he did in Europe.
Al-Ittihad is managed by Nuno Espirito Santo, the former boss of Wolves and Tottenham.
On Monday, June 6, it was announced that Al-Ittihad, along with three other leading Saudi Arabian clubs, including Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal, which has been linked to Lionel Messi this summer, was taken over by the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which also owns Newcastle United.
New head to Qatari club
In other soccer news, Anthony Hudson, who recently quit as the interim head coach of the US men’s national team, has signed a two-year deal to manage Al Markhiya in the Qatari soccer league. The club announced the news on their social media platforms on Wednesday, stating that Hudson’s immediate goal is to help the team improve on their seventh-place finish in their first season after being promoted to the Qatar Stars League.
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