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Karim Benzema Given Two-Year Contract Extension With Reported $1.2 Billion Buyout Clause

Real Madrid and Karim Benzema have agreed to terms on a two-year contract extension with the striker now set to stay until 2021, past the Frenchman’s 33rd birthday. The improved terms will reportedly pay Benzema more than $9 million per season, and his release clause has been bumped to $1.2 billion, a figure essentially inserted to ward off PSG’s Qatari owners and Arsenal (ha!).

Benzema’s previous deal was set to expire in the summer of 2019, but the 29-year-old was keen to extend a stay that’s now entering its ninth season in the Spanish capital. “As a forward, when you’re at a club and you’re a first-team regular, you don’t need to look elsewhere — especially when you’re at a club like Real Madrid,” said Benzema.

Benzema registered 11 goals in 29 La Liga matches last season while missing time with a hamstring injury, but he was instrumental in helping the club to an unprecedented repeat performance in the UEFA Champions League by scoring seven goals in 16 matches.

Benzema helped Real triumph in the 2017 Supercopa de Espana, but he injured his hamstring during the club’s 1-1 draw with Levante back on September 9, ruling him out for up to a month. 

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