‘He’s a mix of Zidane and Ronaldo’ – Perez hails Benzema as world’s best

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has hailed Karim Benzema as the game’s outstanding No.9.

Benzema offers Mbappe warning

The striker has been left out of the France national side for their latest fixtures against Luxembourg and Spain, but if Didier Deschamps is not a fan of the Lyon-born striker, Perez certainly is.

“He's a mix of Zidane and Ronaldo, so for me he is the world's best number nine,” he told RMC. “He plays very well and it is very difficult to find a striker like him. If it depends on me, he will stay in Madrid forever, but that is not something we are discussing right now, but again, if it depends on me, he will stay here.”

Meanwhile, the president was tight-lipped on his side’s attempts to sign Kylian Mbappe from Monaco – a young man who made his France debut off the bench in Friday’s 3-1 win over Luxembourg.

“Anything is possible, but we will not talk about players who don't belong to Real Madrid. He's a great player but we're only thinking about La Liga and the Champions League right now,” Perez said.