'A very sad day': French striker Karim Benzema to leave Real Madrid
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00:00 Footballer Karim Benzema dropped a bombshell on Sunday, announcing his plans to leave Real
00:05 Madrid after 14 years of glory.
00:07 He'll depart as a free agent, however, rumours are swirling about a rather lucrative contract
00:13 deal with Saudi Arabia team Al-Ittihad.
00:17 Rasmus Rasmus, Madrid correspondent, Sarah Morris has more.
00:21 There's a lot of surprise and even shock among Real Madrid fans at the decision of Karim
00:27 Benzema to cut short by a year his contract at Real Madrid.
00:32 Just a few days ago, in fact, Karim Benzema had reassured many fans, speaking to the cameras
00:38 of Maca newspaper, saying that they shouldn't basically believe the rumours that they read
00:45 on the internet.
00:46 Listen to some of the fans that we talked to earlier.
00:50 Many of them are pretty emotional.
00:54 The truth is that it has been a hard blow.
00:56 People have been saying that he could leave, but you don't quite believe it until it happens.
01:00 But I think this is the best moment.
01:03 He has made the decision and after 14 years he has given everything for Real Madrid.
01:10 Today is a very sad day.
01:11 We have come all the way from Cacere for this and still cannot believe it.
01:15 He was going to stay one more season and now he's leaving.
01:19 It really is the end of an era for Real Madrid.
01:22 Benzema turned himself into the top goal scorer after the legend Cristiano Ronaldo.
01:28 More than 350 goals in 650 matches.
01:33 He was of course the Ballon d'Or winner.
01:36 He was also really a favourite of the club president, Florentino Perez, and helped the
01:44 club bring home so much silverware.
01:46 25 trophies including five of those coveted Champions League trophies.