Karim Benzema to Chelsea: The state of play - David Ornstein

Carlo Garganese

• 16 Jan 2024 12:24 GMT
• 3 min read

Karim Benzema will not be joining Chelsea this month.

That is according to respected transfer journalist David Ornstein, who reports that the Saudi Pro League and Benzema’s club side Al-Ittihad have no intention of selling the striker.

Chelsea are in the market for a top-class number nine in 2024, and would ideally like to sign one in the January transfer window due to a lack of goals from their strikers this season.

The likes of Victor Osimhen, Dusan Vlahovic and Ivan Toney have all been heavily linked to Chelsea but none are realistic this month.

The latest big-name player linked to Chelsea is ex-Real Madrid legend Benzema.

The 35-year-old was one of the first European superstars to head to the Saudi Pro League in the summer, joining reigning champions Al-Ittihad on a free transfer.

Despite being in good goalscoring form for Al-Ittihad, Benzema is said to be unhappy in the Middle East and would like to return to Europe.

Indeed, it is reported that Benzema has missed a number of training sessions in an attempt to force through a transfer.

But Ornstein believes that Benzema will be staying at Al-Ittihad.

What did David Ornstein say?

“Karim Benzema, to my understanding, is going to be staying in the Saudi Pro League,” Ornstein said.

“That’s the intention of the competition and that extends to his club Al-Ittihad despite there clearly being a bit of an issue going on right now and suggestions that he’s not turning up for training camps, etc.

“I’m told that he will be reintegrated into training, the meetings will be taking place, I think there are some planned in Dubai for later this week and they’ll try and smooth that situation over.”

Benzema has scored 12 goals in 20 matches for Al-Ittihad since his move from Real Madrid in the summer of 2023.