Arsenal have suffered a hammer blow in their pursuit of Karim Benzema as Spanish daily Mundo Deperotivo have confirmed that the French striker has reportedly agreed to renew his contract with Real Madrid for four more years till 2018. There was major doubts over the £30m rated striker’s future at the Spanish capital after the player had asked the Galacticos to double his wages following the end of last season.
Real were reluctant to offer the player more than his €4.5m salary per year but after an impressive World Cup campaign for France, the Los Blancos have now agreed to substantially increase his wages. Benzema will now be earning €6.5m in the coming season while the figure will consecutively increase to €7m and €7.5m respectively in the coming seasons.
Benzema’s stock significantly improved after the World Cup and it was believed that he might leave Real with Arsenal looking set to pounce on the player. Now that the 26 year old will be staying at Real till 2018, the Gunners will have to look elsewhere to sign a quality striker who can take the pressure off Olivier Giroud up front.
As for Real, the report mentions that the Champions League winners will definitely try to sign another striker who can ably support Benzema after Alvaro Morata joined Juventus earlier this month.
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