Unexplained absences and heavy criticism: Karim Benzema’s underwhelming first 6 months in Saudi Arabia

As reported by RMC Sport, Karim Benzema’s (36) start to life in Saudi Arabia as the star man at Al-Ittihad has not quite gone to plan. The 2022 Ballon d’Or winner was expected by most to dominate the Saudi Pro League and his arrival in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia was acclaimed as a massive capture for the ambitious footballing project the league possesses. Fast-forward six months and things haven’t gone as all involved expected.

The former Real Madrid striker was absent from Al-Ittihad training on the 28th and 29th of December, with no explanation as to why Benzema was not in Jeddah. There has been no official confirmation from the player’s side or the club’s side as to why the 36-year-old was not training with his Al-Ittihad teammates for two successive days. Benzema’s new coach Marcello Gallardo was also tight-lipped on the ongoing situation. 

A reasonable explanation offered by RMC could be the cancellation of Al-Ittihad’s scheduled game against Al-Tai. This match was scheduled to take place on the 30th December but was cancelled due to extreme weather conditions. Whilst this may explain his absence, a silence on the official reason remains. 

Despite scoring on his debut, Benzema’s performances on the pitch have been underwhelming by the usual standards that he is held to. The former France international has scored 9 goals and registered 5 assists in 15 Saudi Pro League games. These numbers don’t look all that bad considering, however, when compared with Cristiano Ronaldo (19 goals), Aleksandar Mitrovic (16) and Georges-Kévin Nkoudou (14 goals) more was expected of him. 

This has led to heavy criticism of the former Lyon striker from Al-Ittihad fans. The 36-year-old has been referred to by fans of the Saudi Pro League