How Benzema Almost Joined Al-Shabab: The Saudi Project That Redirected a Transfer
11 December 2025
Background
Khalid Al-Baltan, the former president of Al Shabab, dropped a bombshell by confirming that Karim Benzema, then with Al-Ittihad, had been close to moving to the Riyadh club before choosing the western side.
The negotiation and aftermath
Benzema joined Al-Ittihad in the summer of 2023 after his contract with Real Madrid expired, bringing to a close a 14-year chapter with the royal club, during which he won numerous titles.
In a TV interview, Al-Baltan said that after the start of the Saudi project and the creation of the recruitment committee, he planned to leave Al Shabab and began negotiating with Benzema, who was the world’s best player at the time.
I managed to reach him through personal effort, contacting him and his brother after talking to the Saudi Ministry of Sports, and I succeeded in convincing him to move to the Saudi league, obtaining his agreement.
I believed Benzema would fix Al Shabab s historic problems by swelling his fan base and boosting sponsorship income.
He explained that Benzema s brother, who is also his agent, visited his home in Riyadh after several video calls, spending two days as a guest, and they settled most details including numbers.
He added that he spoke with the Ministry of Sports, received a negotiation directive, and Saad the Delish (the former deputy head of the Saudi Pro League) arrived, and they agreed on everything before the ministry informed him Benzema would move to Al-Ittihad.
He concluded that, nationally, he was pleased to convince a player who was at one time considered the best in the world to join the Saudi league and its project.
Al-Baltan showed a previously unseen video that included a message from Benzema during negotiations, welcoming the move to the Saudi league.
Benzema s message expressed gratitude for the trust and hospitality, noted he had heard about the Saudi project, and said it would be wonderful to be part of it.
Finally, Benzema added that he is a Muslim and loves Saudi Arabia and his family, and that perhaps they could meet someday.
Punchline 1: If the transfer saga had a sniper, the shot kept missing until the right project alignment finally clicked. Punchline 2: In football as in comedy, timing is everything and this tale proves the joke is often about when a deal actually lands.
