There is a lot of talk in the Spanish and French media on Benzema’s probability of success in joining Real Madrid. I believe that there is way too much pressure on young players like Karim Benzema. He’s only still 21 and hasn’t – yet – proved that he can become a real star though he seems to have all the qualities to do so. I would have liked him to stay a couple more years in the French championship before making the big leap. Now he must face several challenges :
- Moving to a new country
- Learning to speak a new language
- Having a €35M price tag flashing on his face every day
- Facing the peer pressure from the likes of Raul & Co
- Dealing with the ruthless Spanish media
- Convincing his coach Pellegrini and the Real Madrid fans
- Being in a team where there is an overload of players that are positioned in the central attacking part of the field (Raul, Higuain, Kaka, Ronaldo)
It took Zidane about 6 months before proving to the Spanish fans and media that Real Madrid had made the right choice in bringing him over from Juventus. The big difference with Benzema is that Zidane had already proven himself by winning the 1998 World Cup, the 2000 Euro and had already played 5 seasons with Juve. I think Lyon’s President Aulas made a major mistake by selling Benzema too early.
I really like Benzema so I hope he will have the resilience to face all these challenges and pave the way to a brilliant career with Real Madrid.