Karim Benzema is likely to leave Saudi Arabia Pro League

Arsenal legend Emmanuel Petit asked his former club not to recruit Karim Benzema from Al-Ittihad in the January 2024 transfer market. The 36-year-old top striker left Europe last summer. He joined Al-Ittihad on a three-year contract with a whopping sum of €200 million per season. Former Balon d'Or winner performed quite well in the Saudi Pro League. The Frenchman scored nine goals and provided five assists in 15 matches.

However, Benzema is reportedly unhappy with life at Al-Ittihad and wants to return to Europe. He has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United recently. EPL side Gunners are reportedly looking for a new striker. However, the 53-year-old Petit believes that Benzema's salary will be very expensive for Premier League clubs, including Arsenal.

"How much is Benzema worth? Do you know how much Benzema earns in Saudi? I don't think any English club could offer him the same amount of money," Petit said during an interview. "It was Benzema's choice if he came back but after winning everything with Los Blancos and being 34 years old, I don't think he would want to come to the EPL.”

Benzema is no longer young now because of this, the Gunners' legend believes that Benzema will have difficulties when playing in the Premier League. "It's very physical, very difficult mentally, it's not La Liga, with all due respect to him, he may be playing for the biggest club in the world with great success, but it's not the Premier League," he continued. With all these considerations, Petit did not recommend Arsenal to bring in Benzema to strengthen his front line.

"I don't believe Arsenal should sign Benzema, they should choose another player," he added. "I'm not sure it's good for the future either, imagine they brought in Karim Benzema on a huge salary at the age of 36 and that's only for 6 months. I'm not sure it fits Arteta's vision at Arsenal. "I think this is a very different type of Arsenal.”