Karim Benzema is a French football who currently plays for Spanish side Real Madrid. He is a player of Algerian descent, but like many of the Algerian’s living in France, has chosen to represent France instead of Algeria. He is mainly regarded as a striker, but can also accommodate any position in the wings. His powerful presence and pace have made him one of the top strikers in the world. However, he did not make his name at Real Madrid, but it was with French side Lyon that he gained acceptance all over the world.
Karim Benzema was born in Lyon, and it is no surprise that he decided to represent the youth team of Lyon. He joined the Lyon Academy at a very early age and soon progressed through the ranks. He made his debut for the senior team on January 2005 against FC Metz. He was part of the Lyon side that dominated most of the last decade in French football. Despite the Lyon team having a number of stars like Florent Malouda, Michael Essien, and John Carew, Karim Benzema had no problems when it came to making appearances for the first team.
Karim Benzema was so highly regarded at Lyon that he signed a new three-year deal with the club only days after making his professional debut. After the exit of many stars like Florent Malouda and John Carew at the end of the 2007-2008 season, Karim Benzema became the mainstay of the Lyon side. It was also the first season that he made the most number of appearances for the Lyon team. He made 52 appearances for the French side and scored 31 goals in the process. Following this season, there was plenty of speculation linking him with moves to various clubs across Europe.
Manchester United were one of the clubs very keen on signing Karim Benzema, but they eventually could not meet on a price for the French international. In the end, he moved to Spanish side Real Madrid for a reported fee of around £35 million on July 2009. It was the first transfer that will be part of Karim Benzema’s future. Even though he did not turn out to be as good as the striker would have hoped, Karim Benzema soon found his rhythm and started making a number of appearances for the Spanish side.
He initially made his debut for the team in the match against Deportivo la Coruna on August 2009. His first goal came against Xerez in the home victory over the newly promoted team. Even though his first season was below average by many aspects, he improved vastly in the second season. He scored a total of 26 goals in 48 appearances for the Spanish side.
As of now, he has also represented the French national team in 37 appearances and scored 12 goals in the process. His trophy cabinet is mainly dominated by the four Ligue One titles, one Coupe de France, and one Copa del Rey with Real Madrid.