Benzema wants Lyon return… but not just yet

Madrid, July 16: Karim Benzema wants to return to Lyon one day but is in no rush to leave Real Madrid because he has everything he could want at the Santiago Bernabeu, according to his former agent.

Benzema came through the academy at Lyon and spent five years with the senior side until joining Madrid in 2009, having established himself as one of Europe's most promising young players.

The Frenchman has gone on to enjoy huge success in his 11 years with Madrid, winning 17 trophies and scoring 246 goals.

For a while it looked like Benzema's Madrid career might peter out, with his record of just 16 LaLiga goals across the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons leaving a lot to be desired, and fans jeering him on a regular basis.

But he has enjoyed a resurgence over the past two years and has been vital to the club's form this term, with Los Blancos able to wrap up the 2019-20 LaLiga title on Thursday.

An exit certainly does not appear to be on the horizon, but the 32-year-old's former representative is adamant Benzema wants to return to Lyon in some capacity in future.

"Today, with the situation he lives at Madrid, he is at the height of what a footballer wants," Karim Djaziri told OLTV. "Playing at Madrid, being very close to your coach, adored by the public. Today, it is not possible [to return].

"But, since he left Lyon, Karim has only one desire, it is to return to Lyon. Will it be as a player? It remains a regret for Karim not to have gone further in the Champions League.

"When he left, OL made the semi-finals. When it was wrong with [Jose] Mourinho, he would say to me: 'I want to go back to Lyon.' I said to him: 'No, you're going to force it and you're going to get there', and he got there.

"It's in the back of his mind, I think it's possible. If he has legs and he thinks it's time to go and do something good, he'll come back.

"If he is not as a player, I see him returning to OL in another role perhaps. I know he really wants it."