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| Karim Benzema (L) receives the Ballon d'Or award from Zinedine Zidane (R) during the Ballon D'Or ceremony at Theatre Du Chatelet In Paris on October 17, 2022 in Paris, France. |
Real Madrid superstar Karim Benzema is dominating the headlines after he won his first-ever Ballon d’Or Award on Monday night.
The 34-year-old has for long been one of the best strikers in the game and was at the forefront of Los Blancos’ amazing season last time out, helping them win La Liga, Spanish Supercup and the UEFA Champions League.
Benzema was rewarded for his exploits with the Ballon d’Or Award at the ceremony in France on Monday. Having joined Real Madrid in 2009 from Olympique Lyon, the Frenchman has grown into a legend at the club.
However, it could all have turned out differently for Benzema as Xavier Bosch on Mundo Deportivo is claiming that Barcelona had made an attempt to sign the striker before he joined Real Madrid.
The journalist has revealed that he was informed by former Barcelona vice-president Ferran Soriano that Txiki Begiristain, who was in charge of the transfer dealings at the time, had flown to Lyon to try and sign Benzema.
It is claimed that Barca saw some similarity between Benzema and Brazilian legend Ronaldo, after he had scored 20 goals at the age of 20.
An approach was made to the French centre-forward, but Begiristain was met with a negative response. The report claims that Benzema told he was still very young to make a move to a club as big as Barcelona and did not feel ready to make such a huge leap.
A year after turning down the Blaugrana, Benzema ended up signing for Real Madrid in the summer of 2009 and the rest is history. The Frenchman was on target as Los Blancos beat Barcelona 3-1 in El Clasico this past Sunday.
