Karim Benzema revealed his delight at following in the
footsteps of two of his heroes Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo after
completing his move to Real Madrid on Thursday night.
Having already passed his medical and signed a six-year contract
with the Primera Division outfit earlier in the day, Benzema was
presented as a Madrid player in front of an estimated 20,000 fans
this evening at the Bernabeu.
Benzema's presentation came exactly eight years to the day since
his fellow Frenchman Zidane was unveiled as a Madrid player
following his then world-record move from Juventus, and the
21-year-old forward spoke of his pride after completing his own
switch to the Spanish giants.
"I'm very happy to be able to play here at the best club in
world. I'm very happy to play at the same club as my idols, Zidane
and Ronaldo," said Benzema, who admits he rates Brazilian forward
Ronaldo higher than anyone.
"I consider Ronaldo the best player in the world, he is an
inspiration for me. "I don't know if some day I will get to his
level, but I try to imitate what he does on the pitch."
Like Ronaldo, Zidane established himself as a Real Madrid legend
during his time at the club before retiring from the game in
2006.
The former FIFA World Player of the Year is now back at Madrid
as an advisor to president Florentino Perez, but Benzema revealed
it was not Zidane who played the biggest role in his "dream" move
to Madrid, but rather Perez.
"Zidane did not play a key role in the signing, the most
important person was Florentino Perez," said Benzema. Florentino
spoke to me about the team and the project that he wanted to
create. I wanted to play at Real Madrid anyway so he didn't have to
convince me of hardly anything.
"Real Madrid are an excellent club. Since I was 14 or 15 my
dream was to play at Real Madrid. "The emotions that I had when I
entered the dressing room were very strong and this is why I kissed
the Madrid badge so many times (during his presentation)," he
added.
The France international will cost Madrid an initial €35m,
rising to €41m dependent on performances, and will be the fourth
new arrival to be unveiled by the Spanish giants since Perez
returned to the presidency at the start of June.
Kaka was the first to be presented last Tuesday following his
move from AC Milan, then came former Valencia defender Raul Albiol
last Thursday, before world-record signing Cristiano Ronaldo took
centre stage on Monday evening in front of an estimated 90,000 fans
at the Bernabeu.
With just those four signings alone Madrid are close to breaking
the £200m barrier this summer, and more big-name arrivals are
believed to be in the pipeline as Perez fulfils his election
promise of a "spectacular sporting project".
Benzema, who has not yet been given a shirt number at his new
club, was a prolific scorer with Lyon and he is confident he can be
a regular marksman at Madrid as well - if he can secure himself a
place in what is promising to be a star-studded line-up.
"I don't want to promise a set number of goals, although I hope
to score a lot. With players like Kaka (Cristiano) Ronaldo and Raul
it will be very easy to get goals," said Benzema, who scored 54
competitive goals in the last two season at Lyon.
"I'm aware that there is great competition at the club and maybe
I cannot always play, but I've come here to fight, so it's not
going to be a problem."
