Wednesday, March 15, 2023 at 7:55 PM• Jonathan van Haaster • Last update: 19:55

Karim Benzema is going to extend his contract with Real Madrid for one season, so you know L’Equipe report on Wednesday. The Frenchman’s old contract was due to expire next summer, but will soon be valid until mid-2024. Real is expected to announce the contract extension one of these days.

According to L’Equipe Benzema and chairman Florentino Pérez have personally reached an agreement in recent days on the extension of the contract for one season. Benzema’s extended stay in the Spanish capital should come as no great surprise, as he has been able to focus on club football for some time now. Benzema decided to leave the national team after the World Cup because of a difference of opinion with national coach Didier Deschamps. The attacker sustained a thigh injury before the first group match, but said he could have taken action during the tournament.

Benzema accused Deschamps of lying after the coach said there was no rush to leave les Bleus and that the attacker himself could organize his return to the squad with the team manager. Benzema can fully focus on Real after his international retirement. The 35-year-old goaltender has been active at the club since the 2009/10 season and has emerged as a key player of the club, especially in recent seasons. the Royal. Last season, Benzema led the Madrilenians to the Champions League final against Liverpool by scoring no less than fifteen times in the billion-dollar ball. It earned him his first Ballon d’Or. In total, the youth product of Olympique Lyon played 632 games for Real, in which he scored 341 goals and 164 assists.

With the upcoming extension, the club management has clarity about one of the seven players whose contracts also expire in mid-2023. In addition to Benzema, the commitments of Toni Kroos, Nacho Fernández, Luka Modric, Dani Ceballos, Marco Asensio and Mariano Díaz also expire next summer. There seems to be no future for the latter at the Santiago Bernabéu. L’Equipe reports that the club will not present a new contract to the Spanish-born Dominican. At the beginning of March it was announced that Real intends to present Kroos and Modric with a contract for twelve months, as is usual for players older than thirty.