Karim Benzema staying at Real Madrid for one more season… as they plot move for Kylian Mbappe

Karim Benzema has told Marca that he is staying at Real Madrid for one more season, buying the club time to sign Kylian Mbappe in 2024.

Real Madrid’s summer transfer plans looked to have be thrown into chaos by suggestions emanating from Saudi Arabia that Benzema was leaving the club.

The 35-year-old striker had been expected to sign an automatic 12 month renewal on his contract worth around €24million (£20.6m) a season.

But the player, who has won 25 trophies at Real Madrid, had received a huge offer from Al Ittihad worth €200m (£171.5m) a season with add-ons for promotion the country’s 2030 World Cup bid.

The two-time Asian Champions League winners recently won the Pro League, finishing above Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr, and are desperate to capture their own Ballon d’Or winner.

Asked to address the links to Saudi Arabia, the frontman insisted ‘reality is not the internet’

Benzema was honoured by Marca in Madrid on Thursday and told reporters: ‘Am I going to stay? Well for now I’m here. It’s the internet that is talking and the internet is not reality.’

There are still concerns in Madrid that Sunday’s game at home to Athletic Bilbao will be his last for the club.

Madrid had intended to bring in Espanyol striker Joselu on loan from Espanyol this summer as back-up for Benzema and then sign Kylian Mbappe from PSG at the end of the season.

And they would need an alternative to Benzema if he left with Liverpool’s Firmino under serious consideration as a stop-gap between a move for the French forward in one year.

Harry Kane is admired by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez but at 29, and likely to be rated at close to €150m by Daniel Levy, the Spanish giants do not see the England captain as a viable option.

But Marca claimed late on Thursday that the club’s second all-time top scorer has told Madrid that he will see out his contract to 2024.

Benzema is one of the most successful players in Madrid’s history, with 24 pieces of silverware

Real Madrid are ready to make fresh move for PSG star Kylian Mbappe next summer