French striker Karim Benzema’s crisis with Saudi Al Hilal continues after he insisted on staying or leaving on his terms, refusing to leave the club before receiving his full financial dues for the final year of his contract.

According to Al-Riyadiah newspaper, Benzema rejected an offer from Al-Hilal management to move him to one of the newly promoted clubs in the Saudi Roshen League, stressing that he would not agree to any step before settling all his financial rights, so that he would be free to choose his next destination without any restrictions.

This position puts Al Hilal’s management facing a major challenge, as it seeks to rearrange the list of foreign players before the start of the new season, while negotiations between the two parties are still stalled due to the dispute over the mechanism for ending the contractual relationship.

In a new development, Benzema left the Al Hilal camp held in Austria, but his absence was not related to the crisis with the club, as he headed to the French capital, Paris, to participate in the activities of the Electronic Sports World Cup.

The French star participated in an exhibition match in the EA Sports FC game alongside a number of international content makers, as part of the event that includes more than two thousand players from 100 countries, and the value of its prizes amounts to 75 million dollars.

Before leaving the camp, Benzema participated in the two friendly matches that Al Hilal played during the preparation period, scoring a goal against Sturm Graz, and also started against Mamelodi Sundowns.

Media reports indicate that Italian coach Simone Inzaghi does not believe that Benzema meets his technical needs, and asked Al Hilal management to sign a new international striker, amid reports of tension in the relationship between the two parties since last season.

Previous reports had spoken of a verbal altercation between Inzaghi and Benzema after one of the Rochen League matches, in addition to speculation about the possibility of transferring the player to the Asian list to make room for the registration of a new foreign player, which is the news that Benzema previously mocked, saying: “This may only happen in your dreams.”

On the other hand, Federico Pastorello, Inzaghi’s agent, denied the validity of the reports that spoke of statements attributed to him regarding the future of Al Hilal players or the club’s plans in the transfer market.

As part of its moves to strengthen the front line, Al Hilal is close to loaning Uruguayan Darwin Nunez to a Portuguese league club for a season, with interest also from American League clubs.

The name of the Portuguese Pedro Neto, the Chelsea winger, also emerged as one of the most prominent options proposed to strengthen the team’s ranks, after the distinguished season he played with the London club and the Portuguese national team.

Benzema played 13 matches for Al-Hilal since joining during the winter transfer period, during which he scored nine goals and made five more, but his level did not succeed in convincing a large segment of Al-Zaeem fans, despite his contribution to winning the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup.