Real Madrid contact Arsenal in a bid to offload £62m-rated star

Real Madrid are planning to offload Karim Benzema this summer and have circulated his name to a number of potential suitors, according to reports in the Spanish media.

Diario Gol claim Real president Florentino Perez wants to move the Frenchman on this summer to make room in his attack for Monaco teenager Kylian Mbappe, who is likely to command a world-record fee.

Real have already generated £100m this summer with the departures of Danilo to Man City, James Rodriguez to Bayern Munich and Alvaro Morata to Chelsea, and the potential departure of Benzema would free up the funds needed to sign Mbappe from the Ligue 1 champions.

Benzema, who is now 29, joined the Spanish giants back in 2009 for £31million but it’s understood that Perez feels he has got the best out of the player and that it’s time to bring in fresh blood. It has been reported all summer that one of Real’s high profile frontmen, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale or Benzema would depart and according to Diario Gol, it’s the latter who is heading for the exit.

And the outlet claims that Arsenal are among the clubs who have been offered the chance to sign the former Lyon frontman, who has scored 180 goals in 365 appearances during his eight seasons at the Bernabeu.

It’s believed Real value Benzema at £62million, though given his age, they may be forced to accept slightly less for the striker, who has been capped 81 times by France.

The Gunners have a long-standing interest in the player, having come close to signing him in the summer of 2015, though it remains to be seen if they will take Real up on their offer to sign him given their record-breaking capture of Alexandre Lacazette.

However, with doubts still surrounding Alexis Sanchez, the outlet believes Arsenal could yet make their move for Benzema, who has also been offered to his former club Lyon and their Ligue 1 rivals Marseille, among others.