Former Lyon manager Gerard Houllier has revealed Karim Benzema was close to joining Tottenham Hotspur instead of Real Madrid.
However, it could all have been so different, breaking through at Lyon as an exciting prospect Benzema attracted the attention of Spurs and could have moved to north London if he was impatient enough according to Houllier.
“Today, young players are becoming less and less patient,” he told Le Parisien.
“But he listened to me and Karim stayed in Lyon. Two years later, he signed for Real Madrid.”
Benzema in Madrid
Despite being frequently criticised for his relatively low goals-per-game ratio, he’s been near present since rocking up at the Bernabéu having featured across no fewer than 407 games for Los Blancos and registering 192 goals in the process.
His contributions has enabled Madrid to win three European Cups, and they’ll be playing another final soon, as well as two La Liga titles during a period in which Barcelona has lauded over Spanish football.
