Benzema to Arsenal would be a risk – here’s why.
Speculation is growing that talks could be underway to bring Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema to Arsenal this summer, but some of his stats suggest this would not be an ideal move for the Gunners.
According to the Independent, Arsene Wenger has already made contact over bringing Benzema to Arsenal, and the French international could be open to making the switch to the Emirates Stadium as he may no longer be first choice at the Bernabeu, though it might be worth looking at why that is the case.
According to a report from the Daily Mail towards the end of last season, the former Lyon man was forced to respond to the accusation that he is ‘lazy’, and he has been booed by his own fans in the past, as confirmed by a report from the Daily Telegraph a few years ago.
On the face of it, Benzema’s scoring stats look impressive – the 27-year-old has a total of 133 goals in 281 games over six seasons for Los Blancos, though he has only once scored more than 20 in a single season in La Liga, and only twice more than 15, which is hardly the kind of form one would associate with a world class centre-forward.
It is also worth noting that the player seems to justify his reputation as being somewhat ‘flakey’, as his runs of form often come in patches, which are then followed by barren spells. Last season, for instance, he went on a run of 11 goals in 11 games between September and November, but he failed to keep this going for the rest of the campaign, eventually ending with three goals in his final ten games of 2014/15, two if which came in a 9-1 drubbing of Granada, which was hardly a big challenge for Real.
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Indeed, Benzema’s less-than amazing scoring stats come in a league that has been criticised for being too weak many times in the past, with some feeling that Lionel Messi’s and Cristiano Ronaldo’s amazing figures have only come as a result of facing such weak competition week in, week out, as the top two look so far ahead of their rivals in the division.
With this in mind, could Benzema really hack the step up to Premier League level? Many have tried and failed in the past, and Arsenal know from first-hand experience that Mesut Ozil struggled to look as good in England as he did in Spain, just as Angel Di Maria found after swapping Madrid for Manchester.
The Daily Star has recently claimed that Arsenal could pay as much as £40m for Benzema, but based on this evidence, it would be a hugely risky move for an overpriced player.