Napoli offers 52 million dollars to get Karim Benzema

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Carlo Ancelotti, the new manager of Serie A’s Napoli, is interested in bringing French striker Karim Benzema from Real Madrid. The club has already made an offer of around 52 million US dollars, according to the Daily Mail on Tuesday.

The transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus has caused a stir in Italy and surely has excited the nerves of the country’s other clubs. Napoli has been the leading goat in the 2017-18 campaign of Serie A for months but had to see Juventus turn the tide in the end and get way with the title.

Karim Benzema has contributed greatly to Real Madrid since he joined in 2009. /VCG Photo

Keen on making a comeback, the club hired 59-year-old Ancelotti, who has won more than enough champions to prove his coaching ability, as their new manager. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail said that Benzema, after winning everything at Real Madrid, was also interested in accepting the invitation from Italy to join Ancelotti, a manager he has worked with for several seasons.

Italy’s Il Posticipo believed that Benzema will play an important role in Ancelotti’s system and can become a core player of Napoli. Moreover, since the club just sold Jorge Luiz Frello Filho (Jorginho) to Premier Ligue’s Chelsea for 74 million dollars, Napoli could afford to take in Benzema.

Benzema worked with Ancelotti at Real Madrid. /VCG Photo

Having arrived at Bernabeu in 2009, Benzema has scored 192 goals in the 413 matches he has played. Though such a reliable striker, Benzema was never the favorite of Real Madrid. The French striker was not selected into the national team for the 2018 World Cup and thus returned to Madrid on Monday for a pre-season training session under the team’s new manager Julen Lopetegui.

According to the Daily Mail, the only barrier that may stop Benzema from leaving Real Madrid is the team's reluctance to let go of another member of the first squad after Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure. The team is working on deals to acquire Rodrigo from Valencia and, most importantly, get Eden Hazard from Chelsea, who after the World Cup, made it clear that he wanted to pursue “something different.”