Real Madrid does not plan to sell Karim Benzema
Real Madrid sporting director Miguel Pardeza has revealed that the club has no plans to allow Karim Benzema to leave.
The France international has struggled to break into the first team at the Bernebau since arriving from Olympique Lyonnais last summer. The 22-year old made 33 appearances last season (many of them as a substitute) and scored just nine times.
But he has failed to displace Gonzalo Higuain as the new head coach Jose Mourinho’s favoured option for the main striker this season.
This has led to rumours that Madrid will sell Benzema when the transfer window once again opens for business in January.
Pardeza told Spanish newspaper AS that, while Mourinho was satisfied on the whole with Benzema’s performances, “...he also tells us that he thinks the player can give us much more.”
"But we have time, you have to be patient and we continue to back the player. The idea of selling Benzema is not on the agenda. I'm not despairing. I expect he will triumph at Real Madrid."
Meanwhile, Pardeza also took the opportunity to talk about the possibility of club legend Zinedine Zidane being recruited to work in a coaching role.
Mourinho said on the weekend that he would like to have the former Madrid star and three-time FIFA World Player of the Year, who has been a special advisor to the club’s president Florentino Perez since last year, working alongside him.
Pardeza picked up on those comments, saying that it was a "...desire which we take into account. Someone like Zidane is never out of place. He is a world reference and a myth for Real Madrid fans. If in the end he accepts Mourinho's suggestion, it would
be welcome.”
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