Karim Benzema Makes Sudden Transfer—And Cristiano Ronaldo Is ‘Furious’ About it

Things have taken an unexpected turn in the cash-rich Saudi Pro League.

Cristiano Ronaldo (left) and Karim Benzema played together at Real Madrid. | Mohammed Saad/Anadolu/Getty Images

Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly “furious” at the fact that Al Hilal, his Al Nassr side’s chief rivals for the Saudi Pro League title, have been allowed to sign Karim Benzema in the middle of the season.

Benzema was officially announced by the table-topping Al Hilal on Monday evening after the deal had been held up by Ronaldo. The Kingdom’s star asset supposedly refused to play in Al Nassr’s clash with Al Riyadh earlier in the day—which was won by a single goal from Sadio Mané—in protest against a perceived lack of investment in his club compared to their rivals.

Al Hilal, as well as Al Ahli and Benzema’s former employers Al Ittihad, are all majoritively owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. PIF sanctioned Benzema’s switch from Al Ittihad to Al Hilal but Ronaldo was left in dismay by a deal covered in bad blood, according to The Telegraph.

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‘Disrespect’ Led to Benzema Departure

Karim Benzema was captain of Al Ittihad until his exit. | Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images

There appears to have been a lot of ill will washing around the Saudi Pro League as of late. By all accounts, Benzema’s move to Al Hilal was not some sort grand plot to infuriate his former Real Madrid teammate—although getting another one over Ronaldo can’t exactly be considered a negative.

Instead, Benzema’s relationship reportedly broke down with Al Ittihad over the terms of his new contract. With his existing, eye-watering agreement set to expire in the summer, the 38-year-old was presented with a new deal. The exact details of the proposal have not been revealed, but what Al Ittihad thought to be a “good offer” was supposedly deemed “disrespectful” by Benzema and his advisors.

The former Ballon d’Or winner ultimately terminated his contract at Al Ittihad to pave the way for his arrival at league-leading Al Hilal—much to Ronaldo’s chagrin.

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Ronaldo’s Poverty Claims Questioned

Cristiano Ronaldo sat out of Al Nassr’s match on Monday. | Fayez Nureldine/AFP/Getty Images

Ronaldo’s alleged insistence that Al Nassr have been overlooked by their PIF paymasters has been questioned by those in the Kingdom. Over the summer window, the Portuguese icon saw his squad bolstered by an outlay of €105 million ($123.9 million), marginally more than Al Hilal coughed up (€101.3 million).

Al Nassr brought in RB Leipzig’s highly rated Mohamed Simakan to strengthen the backline while giving Ronaldo his international teammate João Félix and former Bayern Munich forward Kingsley Coman to help him up front. The free transfer of Iñigo Martínez from Barcelona also represented an impressive coup.

However, Al Hilal have been far more active than Al Nassr during the winter window, splashing more than €66 million to snag the likes of former Manchester United target Mohamed Kader Meïté, ex-Arsenal center back Pablo Marí and, of course, Benzema. Al Nassr bought in 26-year-old Saudi striker Abdullah Al-Hamdan for a nominal fee.

Since the 2023–24 campaign, Ronaldo’s first full season in Saudi Arabia, Al Nassr have splashed a swollen €409.3 million on new signings—for comparison, that’s comfortably more than Real Madrid (€376 million) over the same time frame. Nevertheless, that does pale in comparison to the €647.1 million which Al Hilal have been afforded to spend in the past two-and-a-half years.

There may be some justification to Ronaldo’s argument. How many feel sympathy for his perceived plight is another matter entirely.

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Saudi Spending Since 2023

Saudi Club	Total Spend	Global Rank
Al Hilal	€647.1 million	7th
Al Nassr	€409.3 million	20th
Al Ahli	€380.5 million	22nd
Al Ittihad	€364.2 million	24th
Al Qadisah	€222.7 million	47th

Stats via Transfermarkt.

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