Karim Benzema played 90 minutes for Al Hilal on matchday two of the new Saudi Pro League season. Ten days later, his contract was terminated by mutual agreement. That's how quickly things move when a club decides you're in the way.
The reason is straightforward: Al Hilal went on a Premier League shopping spree this summer, signing Crysencio Summerville, Ollie Watkins, and Gabriel Martinelli for north of $200 million combined. Three new foreign attackers pushed the club over the league's foreign player limit. Benzema, 38, was always going to be the one to go.
"Al Hilal Club Company and French player Karim Benzema have mutually agreed to terminate their contractual relationship," the club said in a statement. Clinical. The man scored 10 goals in 16 appearances for them, and they let him go anyway.
The contract that closes the door on Europe
Here's where it gets complicated. Benzema isn't just a free agent — he's a Saudi Pro League ambassador on a separate deal worth a reported $23 million per year, running until 2030. That contract voids immediately if he signs for a club outside Saudi Arabia. A return to European football, however unlikely given his age, is effectively off the table financially.
His realistic options are Al Shabab or a return to Al Ittihad, both PIF-owned clubs like Al Hilal. The Saudi ecosystem would keep his ambassador deal intact. The other option gaining traction, per multiple reports, is retirement.
He left Al Ittihad in January having won the Saudi Pro League title and domestic cup during the 2024-25 season — moved to Al Hilal in the winter window, and now he's out again eight months later. At some point, the carousel stops.
What this means for the Saudi title picture
With Watkins, Martinelli, and Summerville now operational at Al Hilal, they've clearly decided their attacking future doesn't include a 38-year-old operating on reduced minutes. Ronaldo's Al Nassr pipped Al Hilal to the title last season. This summer rebuild is the response — and Benzema was collateral damage in it.
Whether a PIF club picks him up for a final stint or he announces retirement in the coming weeks, one thing is already settled: the Ballon d'Or winner of 2022, the man who led Real Madrid to four Champions League titles, is finishing his career not with a farewell tour but with a contract termination notice. That's the reality of football at 38.
