Real Madrid crazy to ditch world's best Benzema for Haaland

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 6 Apr 2022 15:54 CDT
• 4 min read

Karim Benzema just can’t stop scoring or breaking records. He was at it again on Wednesday evening with a stunning hattrick against Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League quarter final at Stamford Bridge.

He opened the scoring on 21 minutes with a simply world-class header. Vinicius Junior clipped the ball in from the left for Benzema to head the ball into the roof of the net from near the penalty box.

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Just a few minutes later Benzema made it 2-0 with an equally brilliant finish. Benzema was stretching backwards, which any striker will tell you is the hardest scenario when trying to score, but it did not stop him guiding Luka Modric’s cross into the far corner.

These were barely two half-chances but they both ended up in the back of Edouard Mendy’s goal.

Benzema put on a clinic of elite number 9 play in the first period. His exquisite backheel set up Vinicius Jr to fire onto the bar, while he should have had a hattrick before half time when he slid the ball wide with a chance he’d usually bury.

It took just a minute after the restart for Benzema to indeed complete his hattrick as he capitalised on a dreadful Mendy error to calmly stroke the ball into an open net.

What records has Benzema broken?

Benzema now has 37 goals in 36 games for Real Madrid in 2021/22 – already his highest total for a season in his career with several weeks of the campaign still left.

He is the first French player in Champions League history to reach double figures in a single season and also now one of only four players to score 80 goals in the competition.

The others are Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski.

Lewandowski is the only player who can challenge Benzema for the title of the world’s best number 9.

Benzema may be 34 but he is just getting better and better with every passing day.

Real Madrid have all but sewn up the signing of Benzema’s France teammate Kylian Mbappe on a Bosman Transfer this summer. He will be a sensational signing.

But Madrid are also competing with Manchester City for the signature of Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland.

There is no doubt that Haaland is a phenomenon and some 13 years Benzema’s junior. But he will cost an absolute fortune. His release clause is only €75 million but when his salary, agent fees and signing-on fees are all taken into account he will set Madrid back around €300m.

And signing Haaland would also mean letting Benzema go.

Given Madrid have a midfield all in their thirties and need work further down the pitch, signing Haaland at the expense of both Benzema and other reinforcements makes no sense at all.