Real Madrid should sell Karim Benzema, not Alvaro Morata
By Ben Sundock
Karim Benzema has been at Real Madrid since 2009. And I think it’s time for him to go. I have been firmly on team Alvaro Morata all season, to the point where I think it would be in the team’s best interest to keep the Spaniard over the controversial Frenchmen. Let me tell you why.
The case for Morata
Alvaro Morata. Soon to be 25-years-old, the striker has been with the club since 2008, and with the first team, sporadically, since 2010. This, of course, is one year after Karim Benzema was bought from Lyon and took over as the starting striker for the whites.
Despite a revolving door of coaches since 2010, Benzema has stayed the focal point of the Real Madrid attack alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. But why is? Because the ‘Big Benz’ is a world class poacher who fits nicely between two scoring threats on the wings.
Morata on the other hand, is a totally different player. Alvaro is known for his great foot skills, and his ability to hold the ball up, back into defenders, and distribute the ball to teammates.
Even though Benzema is good as a poacher (most of the time), I think it’s time for Real to go in a new direction with Morata in order to have a more versatile striker to play alongside the likes of CR7 and Gareth Bale.
It’s clear to me, as a fan, that Karim is losing his goal scorer’s eye, and it’s clear when looking at the stats.
Fewer minutes, more goals, bigger impact
The drop off from Benzema’s 2015/2016 campaign compared to this past season is rather worrisome. After only starting 3 more games in ’15/’16, and playing 80 more minutes, Karim scored 13 more goals (24) as opposed to this past season, scoring just 11 goals.
So, why the dramatic drop off in his goal scoring output? Due to the pressure provided by Alvaro Morata coming off the bench behind him.
More from Analysis
- Breaking down Real Madrid’s 23/24 Champions League group
- 4 Reasons why Real Madrid should sign Harry Kane
- 3 players Real Madrid could sign instead of Kylian Mbappe
- Real Madrid star deserves credit for keeping Erling Haaland quiet
- Eduardo Camavinga handed Real Madrid dilemma
Morata was clearly the better option as a striker for Real, scoring more goals than the #9 Benz with 15, 1 fewer assist (4), while playing nearly 600 fewer minutes and starting 14 matches as opposed to Karim’s 23 starts (all stats from LaLiga play).
Another interesting stat discrepancy between the top two strikers is in the Champions League. It’s clear that manager Zinedine Zidane prefers Benz over Morata as Karim started 12 UCL matches (coming on once as a substitute) as opposed to Alvaro who started just once in Champions League and made 8 substitute appearances.
Even though Benzema played nearly 800 minutes more than Morata, he scored just two more goals than the Spaniard. In the Champions League, besides his incredible dribble move against Atletico Madrid in the second leg of the semifinal, Karim struggled to make an impact in key matches. However, neither did Morata.
In conclusion
So, should Real Madrid be selling Alvaro Morata to Chelsea? Based on the stats and his performance this past year when he gets playing time, clearly, no.
Karim Benzema is well past his prime and he’s not the same prolific goal scorer he once was. So, in my humble opinion, I think Florentino Perez should be shopping Karim Benzema rather than Alvaro Morata, if he does want to sell one of his remaining strikers.
I think the Real Madrid fans would be happier to have a Spanish striker, and even though Benz has been popular with the Madrid fans, they would be happier with Morata starting as the #9.
Both Karim and Alvaro are with the team in the United States and it’ll be interesting to see who performs better during the preseason tour. We here on The Real Champs will have the entire preseason covered.