Karim Benzema agreed to the termination of his contract with Al-Hilal just seven months after arriving at the Saudi club. The French striker, winner of the Ballon d'Or in 2022, left Inzaghi's team during the final stretch of his career, generating expectations about his next steps in football.
The departure, however, does not mean that Benzema is completely free to choose his destination. The player maintains a contract signed in Saudi Arabia that runs until 2030, which significantly complicates any possibility of return to European football at this time.
Olympique Lyonnais, the club that raised Benzema and for which he played 148 matches before transferring to Real Madrid, studied the signing during the last transfer window. The negotiation, however, was considered unviable precisely because of the player's contractual situation in the Middle Eastern country.
