“There were quite a few clubs that contacted me, like Manchester United, Inter Milan and Barcelona, but I decided to come here,” Karim Benzema said of joining Real Madrid. “I’ve dreamed about playing here since I was 15 years of age.”
The French international added: “Real Madrid president Florentino Perez spoke to me about the team and the project that he wanted to create. I wanted to play at Real Madrid anyway so he didn’t have to convince me of hardly anything.”
The French striker, signed from Lyon for a fee that could rise to $57 million, is the fourth new arrival unveiled by the Spanish giants since Perez returned to the presidency at the start of June. He follows the headline signings of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Raul Albiol.