Benzema out, Real Madrid scandal over Liverpool Champions League clash

Karim Benzema is one of the players whose contract with Real Madrid expires this season, but negotiations between the French striker and the club are progressing rapidly and it won't be long before the extension of his contract until 2024 is made official. 

However, after that year the chances of the Frenchman remaining at the club are slim, as his seniority and his desire to return to Olympique Lyon before retiring are two determining factors in his future, something that will force Florentino Pérez to look for the best possible alternative on the market to prevent his departure from being extremely detrimental to the project. In this sense, Erling Haaland could be postulated as the luxury companion of Vinicius JR and Rodrygo Goes in the dream trident that Florentino wants to compose once Karim Benzema has left Real Madrid. 

<strong>More Liverpool news:</strong>

Mané already thinking of Liverpool for UCL final, Real Madrid and PSG eliminated

They are afraid of Liverpool and are running away, these players would lose Real Madrid, Ancelotti suffers

But Manchester City will try to do everything possible to retain him using their economic potential, a condition that could translate into a salary offer to the Norwegian with which the Spanish team cannot compete. Therefore, knowing that getting Haaland on that date is practically impossible, Florentino has a surprise plan B with which to excite the madridismo and form that fearsome trident with the aforementioned Rodrygo and Vini: Christopher Nkunku. 

The current Leipzig striker, who was very close to joining Chelsea in the last summer transfer window, has been one of the sensations of the season, as he was in the previous one, and his goalscoring figures have led Real Madrid to place him as a potential replacement for Benzema, with whom he shares a dressing room in the French national team.

<strong>He already has a replacement for Benzemá</strong>

Nkunku is a highly technical footballer with a knack for getting past opponents and a keen eye for the goal, an extra incentive that underpins his candidacy to arrive at the Bernabeu in 2024. However, before that date Leipzig will receive a large number of offers for the player and his arrival at Chelsea, PSG or Bayern Munich could scupper Florentino's desire to have him at the Bernabeu. However, we will not know for sure until next summer, as in January, after the Saxon side have qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League, it is unlikely that they will agree to part with their star player.