Karim Benzema has stated he believes former teammate Vinícius Júnior “will win the Ballon d’Or sooner or later” after the Actual Madrid ahead missed out on the award final 12 months.
Benzema, who left Madrid for Al Ittihad in Saudi Arabia in 2023, attended Madrid’s 3-0 Spanish Supercopa semifinal win over Mallorca in Jeddah on Thursday, after visiting the workforce at their lodge within the metropolis.
Vinícius completed second within the 2024 males’s Ballon d’Or standings — behind Manchester Metropolis midfielder Rodri — with Madrid boycotting the Paris ceremony in protest.
“[I told Vinicius] to not take any discover,” Benzema advised Marca in an interview on Saturday. “He should not decrease his depth, as a result of he is the perfect on the earth, and sooner or later he’ll win the Ballon d’Or.”
Benzema received the Ballon d’Or in 2022 after a season during which he led Madrid to a LaLiga and Champions League double — a feat which wasn’t sufficient to see Vinicius handed the prize two years later.
Nevertheless, the Brazil worldwide did win FIFA’s males’s The Finest award final month.
Benzema’s Al Ittihad are prime of the Saudi Professional League with 36 factors from 13 video games, with the ahead scoring 10 objectives in 10 appearances.
He dismissed studies that he is contemplating retiring on the finish of this season.
“I do not know whose phrases they’re. Nonsense,” Benzema stated. “I haven’t got a restrict, to have the ability to say that in two, three or 4 years, that I will be leaving soccer. I really feel good. My physique is ok. I prepare properly and we’ll see how I really feel every year.”
In his first season in Saudi Arabia, Benzema did not win a trophy, with Al Ittihad ending fifth within the league, however the workforce’s type has improved this marketing campaign.
“I need to preserve profitable,” Benzema stated. “In my head, I need to win a trophy with Al Ittihad. It is tough as a result of the extent has improved quite a bit and the groups are robust, higher than earlier than. We’ll preserve working, as a result of we have not received something but.”
The previous France worldwide refused to rule out returning to Madrid sooner or later in some capability.
“Why not?” Benzema stated. “I am in Jeddah now, and I am joyful. The time will come to see how my life is, and for positive I will be near Madrid.”
