In recent weeks, there has been a lot of speculation surrounding Karim Benzema.
Disappointing in December on the pitch, criticized by the Saudi media, the 2022 Ballon d'Or had deactivated his Instagram account, followed by 76 million people, and went on vacation to Mauritius.
While he should have resumed training with his Saudi club Al-Ittihad, the French striker only returned to Jeddah on Thursday, 17 days late, according to a source close to the club cited by AFP .
Al-Ittihad is “furious at what happened, having not managed to contact him for 10 days” according to this source who also told AFP “that he arrived Thursday evening 17 days late when he should have returned on January 2.”
His teammates returned to training on Friday January 12.
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A meeting will be held with the club management and the coach, Argentinian Marcelo Gallardo, to discuss in particular “the future of the player”.
But a departure of the 36-year-old former Real Madrid striker would not be on the agenda.
If he remains "the captain of the club and remains committed", Benzema will not join his teammates on training in Dubai where Al-Ittihad is due to play two friendly matches on January 24 and 28.
Beaten three times in a row before the break, Al-Ittihad is only 7th in the Saudi Pro League.
Karim Benzema scored 9 goals and 5 assists, far behind Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 20 goals and 9 assists with Al-Nassr.
The championship resumes on February 7.