Benzema’s Collapse Ignites Debate On The Nine
Elimination in the semi-finals of the Champions League against Manchester City, added to the team’s poor performance in the league, saw Real Madrid start revising their roadmap for the coming years. The Chamartin club, which hoped to hold out until 2024 without major interventions in the offensive area, combs the market in search of a nine that offers a guaranteed replacement to Karim Benzema, registered in the performance of the Lyon player was recorded during the fall. season that ends.
The organization, headed by Florentino Pérez, aimed to find a footballer who would give the French player the rest needed to reach decisive matches in top form, could serve as a boost to come off the bench and the former Olympic Provides a complementary profile to De Leon for appointments that require a more classic type of ram.
All this, of course, at a cheap cost, as Real Madrid plan to make a huge outlay this summer to recruit Jude Bellingham and are unwilling to face other actions that could significantly reduce the coffers. Unless Kylian Mbappe or Erling Haaland are involved. Something that in any case will not happen until the summer of 2024, which the club has painted red on its agenda.
Since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid’s offensive load has passed to Benzema’s boots. The Frenchman scored 30 goals in the 2018-19 campaign, 27 in 19-20 and 30 in 20-21. Last year he increased his offensive flow to 44 goals and 15 assists, some stratospheric data that helped his team double as league-champions and propel the striker to the Olympus of the Ballon d’Or.
However, the Stakhanovist rhythm that Benzema has maintained since taking over the baton from Cristiano is taking a toll on an attacker as Real Madrid’s flagship, who will turn 36 on December 19. This season he has missed fifteen games for physical reasons, compared to eleven last season, eight in 20–21 or three in 19–20.
Hampered by these constant interruptions, he has reduced his contribution to 29 goals and six assists, the decline in his performances in the Champions League being particularly significant: of the 15 goals he scored en route to fourteenth, ten of them The edition that ended at the Etihad took the number of knockout stage qualifiers to four, which was not enough with the development of Vinicius and Rodrigo.
provisional figure
Carlo Ancelotti has already anticipated what could happen in the face of a Benzema slump, which is why he requested the signing of another striker last summer, given Mariano’s zero contribution. But the club, fearful of making another unsuccessful bet like Jovic’s, recognized there were no attractive options in the window as top-class strikers are trading for the price of gold.
Twelve months later, the analysis is different. The board believes Benzema needs a squire to smooth the transition while waiting for young Palmeiras diamond Andric, who will land at Chamartin in 2024, to be able to support the hopes he has or, above all, the long-awaited arrival of Mbappé or Haaland. Because of this some names are already included in it.
One of them, according to Relevo, belongs to Joselu, a striker for Espanyol who grew up in La Fábrica, Carvajal’s brother-in-law and is the top Spanish scorer in the league with 15 goals. They like his strength in the air, nose and ability to play with his back to defenders.
With a very different profile to Benzema, he can be a good plunger and, at 33, he would fit the idea of finding a transitory figure before dealing with a strategic signing like Mbappe or Haaland, whose Florentino Perez has been tempted from distances Other important options like Harry Kane, Victor Osimhen, Dusan Vlahovic, Kolo Muani or Goncalo Ramos. Executing either of them would force us to throw the house out the window and be hard to reconcile with Benzema’s last dance, but Real Madrid can’t afford another campaign with Lyon as the only net nine. .
