Madrid [Spain], June 2 (ANI): Real Madrid's maestro Karim Benzema received the Marca Leyenda (legend) award in recognition of his spectacular career on Friday.

The Real Madrid captain has become an integral part of Ream Lamdirid's golden history. With 647 appearances, 353 goals and 165 assists he received the award at a ceremony held at the Real Casino de Madrid. Since joining the club back in 2009, the Frenchman has won 25 titles as a Real Madrid player. Benzema has been instrumental in the success that the Los Blancos have enjoyed over the past decade.

His presence in their domination of Europe is marked by 5 Champions League titles. Along with this on the domestic level, he has won 5 Club World Cups, 4 European Super Cups, 4 La Liga titles, 3 Copas del Rey and 4 Spanish Super Cups.

Benzema's success was further glorified as he became the Ballon d'Or winner after a historic 2022 season, he was also voted UEFA Player of the Year. The Frenchman shared a small video on the Instagram handle with the caption "We made it."Last year Benzema scored against Eintracht Frankfurt to become the second-highest goalscorer in Real Madrid's history. He overtook Raul's tally of 323 between 1994 and 2010. Only Cristiano Ronaldo now stands ahead of him at the top of the summit. The Portuguese striker holds the top position with 451 goals in his decorated career.

Earlier this week, a report from ESPN suggested that Benzema received a two-year deal worth EUR400 million to relocate to Saudi Arabia in January. Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined Al Nassr after leaving Manchester United, also received a similar offer.

The centre-forward was expected to stay at Madrid for one more season till June 2024, but is instead now opting for a new challenge at this stage of his career.

However, Madrid will hunt for someone else to bolster the assault. Madrid is in advanced talks to sign Joselu on a loan to replace Mariano Diaz. (ANI)