"Here I am at peace", Karim Benzema spoke of his departure from Real Madrid

Since December 2022, the world soccer map has changed. At that time, Cristiano Ronaldo made a surprise decision to leave Manchester United amidst a conflict with coach Erik Ten Hag to join Al-Nassr. And a few months later, many European stars followed suit and accepted multi-million dollar offers from Pro League clubs.

Some of the most important signings were Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain to Al-Hilal, N'Golo Kanté from Chelsea to Al-Ittihad, Riyad Mahrez from Manchester City to Al-Ahli, Jordan Henderson from Liverpool to Al-Ettifaq and Sadio Mané from Bayern Munich to Al-Nassr. But undoubtedly the most surprising was Karim Benzema's decision. The French striker was Real Madrid's biggest star and had won the Ballon d'Or in 2022, but this summer he left all that behind and agreed to join Al-Ittihad.

Now he gave an interview to the Pro League's official media and explained the reasons for his decision: "I am very happy and proud of everything I have done and won with Real Madrid. But I think I needed an important change in my life after everything I had already won. When the soccer project started in Saudi Arabia, it seemed huge in every aspect and I wanted to be part of it to help in the advancement of soccer in this country."

He then spoke about his new life in Saudi Arabia: “It is a Muslim country, I was welcomed with open arms and felt loved immediately. As a Muslim, when you are in Mecca you feel at peace. It is an exceptional place. I am at peace here”.

He is satisfied with the sporting level

Karim Benzema chose Saudi Arabia because of the significant financial offer made to him and the lifestyle he can have there, but the sporting aspect is also very important: “There is a lot of passion here and I am happy with the level of play. I'm really surprised by the level in Saudi Arabia because in Europe you didn't see many games of this championship. Now they do”.