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“I’m very, very happy, on and off the pitch.” This Wednesday, Karim Benzema spoke about his new life in Saudi Arabia, which started this summer following his departure from Real Madrid for the Al-Ittihad club. “What made me come? Already, I think that with everything I was able to have and do at Real Madrid, it was the time to look elsewhere. And then Saudi Arabia, long before football, I wanted to come here,” explained the 2022 Ballon d’Or to the Saudi League. Author of three goals and two assists in seven matches, the French striker enjoys being in the Gulf, both from a sporting point of view and from a personal point of view.
“And there is the football project, since it is a project that was starting to break out all over the place. So I said to myself: 'there you go, I too want to participate and develop Saudi football'. This is especially why I came here,” explained the former Lyonnais, specifying the importance of the living environment and religion in his daily life. “When you travel there (to Mecca), you are right. For a Muslim, you are right. This is what you should do, you feel good and pure. This is exceptional. I wish all Muslims to go there one day because that’s where the truth is.”
Proud to play in a country that “opened its arms” to him, Benzema also said he was surprised by the level of the Saudi championship, embodied by many stars, from Cristiano Ronaldo to Neymar via N’golo Kanté. “I'm surprised by the level of football, surprised because in Europe we don't watch Saudi Arabia a lot,” said the 35-year-old. In any case when I played in Europe whereas now we watch a lot more. There are a lot of great players in this championship. It’s good, we’re off to a great start to the season.”
Before adding: “I feel the love of people and obviously that will make me happy and I try to give back to them on the pitch. The fans are there and they love football, there’s a lot of passion.”
On the field side, KB9 and Al-Ittihad are currently 4th in the Saudi Pro League after nine days, four points behind leader Al-Hilal led by Neymar, Kalidou Koulibaly and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
