'Real Madrid were planning to sell Karim Benzema to Arsenal – it was all done'

Posted Wednesday, February 21, 2024 by Dailystar.co.uk

Karim Benzema almost starred for Arsenal under Arsene Wenger instead of winning the Ballon d'Or at Real Madrid - and it's down to Luis Suarez's move to Barcelona

'Real Madrid were planning to sell Karim Benzema to Arsenal – it was all done'
Karim Benzema almost joined Arsenal (Image: Getty Images)

French star Karim Benzema was set to move to Arsenal, but Luis Suarez's move to Barcelona stopped the deal.

Benzema was one of the football icons to move to the Middle East over the summer after calling time of his stay in Madrid. However, he could have left the LaLiga giants almost a decade earlier, with the Gunners leading the race for his signature at the time.

"Before the 2014 World Cup, Real Madrid wanted to sign me, and everything was on track," former Liverpool star Suarez revealed in a recent interview, when talking about his decision to quit Anfield that summer, after nearly leading the Reds to the Premier League title.

He added: "They were planning to sell Benzema to Arsenal; it was all done. When the World Cup started, Barca joined the race, and obviously, I preferred Barca. With the bite situation, Madrid lowered their interest, and Barca became more interested…

"In the end, I had both options and I chose Barca because it was my dream."

Suarez left Anfield for sunny Spain in a £75m deal and would go onto to form one of the best attacking trios the beautiful game has ever seen alongside Lionel Messi and Neymar. While Benzema would star for a Madrid side that would go on to conquer Europe numerous times and also claimed the Ballon d'Or.

Arsenal, on the other hand, had a carousel of strikers who had a variety of success in north London. Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck joined that summer, Lucas Perez joined two years later, before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette followed the following season.