Should we sell Benzema?

vanDEEZ wrote:Who would play instead of Benzema? Mariano?

2 years later and this is coming to fruition

And it's absolutely not a solution. Morata is better than Mariano as a FYI.

sportsczy wrote:A new agency doesn't take you on unless there's a transaction coming... they are paid entirely as a percentage of a transaction.  Benz just extended his contract in Sept 2017; so there's no new contract negotiations coming (especially given his age).  To me, it's highly likely that there's a transfer coming.

Having a new agency doesn't necessary mean a player's going to leave.

Lewandowski parted with his lifelong agent to become a client for Pini Zahavi (the guy who orchestrated Neymar's move to PSG) ahead of the summer and he still stayed at Bayern. Or Pjanic who also had a new agent and he signed a new 5-year contract with Juventus a while ago.

I really doubt that Benzema, who's an undisputed starter for argubaly the best club in the world, suddenly wants to take a down step. Also, he's been consistent about ending his career at RM.

Since his contract doesn't expires until 2021, it's pretty understandable why neither Benzema or the club are in a hurry for contract negotiations.

He vocally asked to leave Bayern and made a stink of it. But Bayern didn't give in.

I don't think Madrid will make a scene if Benz asks to leave. He may be hunting for his last 4-5 year contract, which makes sense given his age.

Sports, let's be painfully honest here, Benzema will never ask to leave for a couple reasons that he himself knows:

1. No elite club is dumb enough to offer him a starter role. He might be able to land a contract as a back-up DM CF, but they certainly won't pay him as much as what Madrid is paying him right now.

2. He's untouchable at Madrid. No matter how bad he sucks (and dear lord does he suck!), he'll always remain an undisputed starter here. He'll not be asked to score goals, defend or press. He could literally spend the entire 90 minutes walking without making a single contribution (something that he has made countless times already), and he would still start the next game as if nothing happened. It's the dream job for him, and the opportunity is simply too good to pass up on for someone with no discernible talent like him.

Only a club without ambition and with an unbelievably shitty transfer policy would be content with his 'services'. Everybody else would send his ass packing.

Yes they will actually. Believe it or not, Benzema isn't that highly paid at Real Madrid. He's at £150K per week. Just to put it in perspective... Morata is at £140K, Alexis Sanchez is at £250K, Lacazette at £170K, Aguero at £220K, Lukaku at £250K etc.

He's very affordable in comparison.

Lukaku most definitely doesnt make as much as Sanchez. I dont know the figures in weekly wages, but Alexis is making over 20 mil net per year at United. Benzema is making around 8.5 mil net, he hasnt warranted a contract extension, and will never get one imo.

Please tell me sports, which elite club is dumb enough to pay Benzema £150K in his current sorry state? No, no. Which elite club is dumb enough to buy Benzema, period?

All of them. Just watch. Madrid will get hosed on the transfer fee due to age... but he'll get his wages. I guarantee it. Numpties that are far worse than him are getting paid that amount and more.

I don't know why you sound so confident. I don't think anybody with a shred of self-respect would take this useless joke for a CF.

Even if one of the elites take him by a miracle, it'll be for a back-up role, and you can bet anything they won't pay him £150K a week or even remotely close to that number.

The Demon of Carthage wrote:Sports, let's be painfully honest here, Benzema will never ask to leave for a couple reasons that he himself knows:

1. No elite club is dumb enough to offer him a starter role. He might be able to land a contract as a back-up DM CF, but they certainly won't pay him as much as what Madrid is paying him right now.

2. He's untouchable at Madrid. No matter how bad he sucks (and dear lord does he suck!), he'll always remain an undisputed starter here. He'll not be asked to score goals, defend or press. He could literally spend the entire 90 minutes walking without making a single contribution (something that he has made countless times already), and he would still start the next game as if nothing happened. It's the dream job for him, and the opportunity is simply too good to pass up on for someone with no discernible talent like him.

Only a club without ambition and with an unbelievably shitty transfer policy would be content with his 'services'. Everybody else would send his ass packing.

I hate to nitpick, but I do think Benzema has exceptional talent. I've been following him since he rose to fame at Lyon, and you don't lose that kind of talent overnight. It's just one more reason to be frustrated by his poor work rate and performance output. His head isn't in the game, and it rarely has been for a substantial period of time now. Benzema in his current state is absolutely nowhere near what I think he should be capable of, and I don't know if it's due to a bottomless lack of confidence or motivation, but the club has been exceptionally patient with him. It's extraordinary, because Real Madrid aren't exactly known for having much patience with anyone. Honestly, over the duration of his Real Madrid career, I only recall one season under Ancelotti where I thought he looked like the player he was projected to be. Clinical, fast, intelligent, strong, efficient, fearless. That sounds like a parody when you see the guy who strolls around the pitch, these days.

I disagree with that last part.  Benz was a WC CF from 2010 through 2016.  Absolutely no question at all about that.  Did he reach the heights he was supposed to?  No.  Some of it was his fault and some of it wasn't.

But for the past two and a half years, he's been deplorable.  There's no excuse for it. It all started when he had the run in with Valbuena in early 2016 and was kicked off of NT. I thought his motivation went down the toilet after that to be a scorer. He needed to be a scorer for NT... but not at Madrid. Once NT was gone, he stopped worrying about it.

The reason he's still here is because there aren't many CFs out there in this era.  So it's simply an issue of supply and Flo being cheap.

sportsczy wrote:He vocally asked to leave Bayern and made a stink of it. But Bayern didn't give in.

I don't think Madrid will make a scene if Benz asks to leave. He may be hunting for his last 4-5 year contract, which makes sense given his age.

And rightfully so, there's a reason why a contract exists in the first place and it's about to honor the agreement. But although Lewy was reportely interested to leave Bayern, it still doesn't change the initial points. There's plenty of players who switches to a new agent wtihout any intention for leaving their club.

If Benzema was really interested for money, he would've left Real Madrid years ago to become the main man elsewhere and get a bigger salary as a additon.

Like I said before, he's been very consistent about retiring at Real Madrid since the day when he joined the club.

Mr Nick09 wrote:Lukaku most definitely doesnt make as much as Sanchez. I dont know the figures in weekly wages, but Alexis is making over 20 mil net per year at United. Benzema is making around 8.5 mil net, he hasnt warranted a contract extension, and will never get one imo.

1. Since his last contract extention in September 2017, Benzema has been an integral key player for Real Madrid winning the Champions League last year. And although Real Madrid were out of the title race in LaLiga back in December, Benzema made 10 assists and was among top performers for creating most goals per 90 in the league.

2. He will get a renewal if Benzema continues to deliver, which he's done so far.

sportsczy wrote:I disagree with that last part.  Benz was a WC CF from 2010 through 2016.  Absolutely no question at all about that.  Did he reach the heights he was supposed to?  No.  Some of it was his fault and some of it wasn't.

But for the past two and a half years, he's been deplorable.  There's no excuse for it. It all started when he had the run in with Valbuena in early 2016 and was kicked off of NT. I thought his motivation went down the toilet after that to be a scorer. He needed to be a scorer for NT... but not at Madrid. Once NT was gone, he stopped worrying about it.

The reason he's still here is because there aren't many CFs out there in this era.  So it's simply an issue of supply and Flo being cheap.

Benzema scored 54 goals in 99 games during his last two seasons for Lyon when he was the best player in France. So it's fair to say that he was WC even back then.

If you're talking about Benzema's "failure" for not reaching the heights of Prime Ronaldo Nazario as people expected him to do, then perhaps. To be fair, he (or any other footballer) was never going to win Ballon d'Or anyway when the likes of Messi & Ronaldo have dominated the game like no else has done before.

Having that said, Benzema has been ridiculously successful at club level and has been a cornerstone for a Real Madrid side winning 4 UCL-titles in 5 years and he's made 25 goals in 50 games during that period. As for international level, he had some positive lights even there. Benzema sent France to World Cup 2014 during the play-off against Ukraine and had a great tournament at Brazil.

The Valbuena case begun during November 2015 and onwards - which occured when Benzema made the best league campaign in his career (in term of goals) and was (alongside with Keylor Navas) the best player in a struggling Real Madrid team under Benitez.

Zidane's tactics and Cristiano's becoming more of a striker, made Benzema being more of a playmaker than a striker. Which explains about his goalscoring productions being lowered in the past two seasons.

Benzema was never really a likeable figure in Real Madrid's fanbase and I think you're forgetting when the majority of Madridistas prefered the likes of Zlatan, Aguero, Falcao, Suárez, Milito, Aubameyang, Rooney throughout the years.

Hell, I've even seen people being upset over Higuain's departure despite his pathetic CL-numbers as well as choking in big games.

Integral? Last season? We could have had a loaf of bread as a striker and we still would have won CL. He scored 5 league goals in 32 appearances ffs, 10 goals in 44 appearances between LL and CL, and one of the CL goals Karius literally bowled it to him.

We have to face the fact that since 2016 his form has fallen off a cliff to an extent that has actually hurt the club- even moreso now when we need the goals, Benzema has been a ghost.

So no, he has not delivered, and in no way shape or form does he deserve a new contract (unless he is willing to cut his wages in half to match his performances).

vanDEEZ wrote: Integral? Last season? We could have had a loaf of bread as a striker and we still would have won CL. He scored 5 league goals in 32 appearances ffs, 10 goals in 44 appearances between LL and CL, and one of the CL goals Karius literally bowled it to him.

We have to face the fact that since 2016 his form has fallen off a cliff to an extent that has actually hurt the club- even moreso now when we need the goals, Benzema has been a ghost.

So no, he has not delivered, and in no way shape or form does he deserve a new contract (unless he is willing to cut his wages in half to match his performances).

Honestly, Deez, I blame you for taking him seriously.

vanDEEZ wrote: Integral? Last season? We could have had a loaf of bread as a striker and we still would have won CL. He scored 5 league goals in 32 appearances ffs, 10 goals in 44 appearances between LL and CL, and one of the CL goals Karius literally bowled it to him.

We have to face the fact that since 2016 his form has fallen off a cliff to an extent that has actually hurt the club- even moreso now when we need the goals, Benzema has been a ghost.

So no, he has not delivered, and in no way shape or form does he deserve a new contract (unless he is willing to cut his wages in half to match his performances).

Eh, Real Madrid (and partially Cristiano) were compelelty toothless up-front when Zidane benched Benzema when Juventus almost pulled off a remontada. And the offensive scheme didn't looked any better without against Bayern in first leg. Benzema made RM's offensive tick and scored 5 UCL-goals in 9 games, some of them were crucial in the road of CL-victory.

You can make hypotheticals on "what ifs." and that's fine. But as the matter of the fact, Benzema was a key player.

That UCL-goal against Liverpool may seem as a "gift", but you still need to get into position and have anticipation in order to make that goal happen. Almost 10 years ago, Benzema was criticized in Spanish media & Real Madrid forums when he didn't capitalize a mistake from Dida. Fortunately, Raúl was there and took full advanage of it. I suppose he learned that lesson...



And it's was such an easy goal to score, Real Madrid would've won the derby when Jan Oblak was having a 'Karius moment'. Which shows that it's quite difficult to score even from such "gifts goals".



You're right that Benzema's goalscoring production in LaLiga was quite undewhelming. But since Real Madrid were already out from the title race back in December wtih 15 pts behind Barca, Benzema's 5 LaLiga goals has as much value as Cristiano's 26 LaLiga goals.

This poster reads very similar to Surag's particular style of writing/trolling. Anyway, ignoring the obvious GL alt account:

The Demon of Carthage wrote:I don't know why you sound so confident. I don't think anybody with a shred of self-respect would take this useless joke for a CF.

Even if one of the elites take him by a miracle, it'll be for a back-up role, and you can bet anything they won't pay him £150K a week or even remotely close to that number.

Knowing how ridiculous the footballing world can be, I can actually see a club paying him that much. As for him deserving a new contract, unless Madrid get the forward they seem to be craving for (I don't know whom that individual is), Benzema would probably get a new contract. Pretty certain we'll be stuck with this shit forward till he retires.

Varnagel wrote:

vanDEEZ wrote: Integral? Last season? We could have had a loaf of bread as a striker and we still would have won CL. He scored 5 league goals in 32 appearances ffs, 10 goals in 44 appearances between LL and CL, and one of the CL goals Karius literally bowled it to him.

We have to face the fact that since 2016 his form has fallen off a cliff to an extent that has actually hurt the club- even moreso now when we need the goals, Benzema has been a ghost.

So no, he has not delivered, and in no way shape or form does he deserve a new contract (unless he is willing to cut his wages in half to match his performances).

Eh, Real Madrid (and partially Cristiano) were compelelty toothless up-front when Zidane benched Benzema when Juventus almost pulled off a remontada. And the offensive scheme didn't looked any better without against Bayern in first leg. Benzema made RM's offensive tick and scored 5 UCL-goals in 9 games, some of them were crucial in the road of CL-victory.

You can make hypotheticals on "what ifs." and that's fine. But as the matter of the fact, Benzema was a key player.

There weren't any what ifs- Just stating facts of how poor his production has been the past 2+ seasons

Varnagel wrote:
You're right that Benzema's goalscoring production in LaLiga was quite undewhelming. But since Real Madrid were already out from the title race back in December wtih 15 pts behind Barca, Benzema's 5 LaLiga goals has as much value as Cristiano's 26 LaLiga goals.

Had Benzema scored the numerous sitters, we would not have drawn and lost so many games early in the season resulting in us losing LL by November. So yes, the (lack there of) goals does have value. His poor form without replacement was one of, if not the biggest contributing factor to us dropping points, losing the league, and therefore hurting the club.

Once again, we are back to Benzema doing absolutely fuck all. This time, we have Zidane enabling this farce of a forward.

It's so cute that you think his performance is what's keeping him in the starting eleven. Truth is, it really doesn't matter how bad he plays, as long as Zidane is the coach and Florentino is the president, his spot is safe and locked down.

He needs to show up big against City and big the rest of the season. Not saying he needs to score a goal every game. But definitely 1 in 2 or, even better, 3 in 5.

Needs to put his big boy pants on.

I would take Giroud over Benzema right now.

The guy has one goal this season and what are we supposed to get from that

3 goals now. And all in the past 2.5 months, which is more than Benzema has scored in that stretch.

He has 2 with todays goal if i am not mistaken. Thats terrible. We criticise Jovic for not scoring but he has as many goals in alot less minutes