The 34-year-old Karim Benzema bagged his maiden Ballon d'Or award for the men's best player of the year on Monday night. On Tuesday multiple reports have emerged saying Real Madrid are looking to replace the French striker with the Ligue 1 striker in the next summer transfer window.
After having a stellar 2021-22 season with the UEFA Champions League and La Liga champions Real Madrid, Karim Benzema received the pivotal trophy at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.
In a quest to win more trophies across all European competitions, Real Madrid are reportedly eyeing to rope in a young striker in their squad, possibly Lille striker Jonathan David. Clubs like Everton, Manchester United, and Arsenal are also keen to sign the 22-year-old Canadian in the next summer transfer window.
According to Spanish outlet TodoFichajes, Real Madrid has also joined the race to bring him to the Santiago Bernabeu next summer. The champion side consider Jonathan as the prime prospect to replace Karim Benzema in the future.
The reports emerged after Real Madrid terminated all the possibilities of signing PSG star Kylian Mbappe in the near future. Jonathan joined Lille for a fee of around €30 million for five years from Belgian side KAA Gent. Amid the growing interest of Premier League giants in the Canadian striker, Lille are likely to set an asking price of around €60million for Jonathan's departure.
Apart from Karim Benzema, Thibaut Courtois won the Yashin trophy for the best goalkeeper of the year at the Ballon d'Or 2022 ceremony while Manchester City surprisingly claimed the best club of the year trophy despite Real Madrid winning the Spanish and European trophies.