'Lazy' Karim Benzema struggling and Nuno Espirito Santo facing the sack! Saudi Pro League champions Al-Ittihad facing a massive crisis

When the Benzema deal was made official in June, Al-Ittihad president Anmar Bin Abdullah Alhailae quite rightly called the forward's arrival "a historic milestone for this special club". However, it was also a colossal coup for the Saudi Pro League, arguably even more significant than Cristiano Ronaldo joining Al-Nassr six months previously.

Why? Because Benzema was still performing somewhere near the peak of his powers. The same could not be said of Ronaldo, who had been shunned by all of Europe's elite after petulantly forcing his way out of Manchester United because he could no longer get in the starting line-up. A catastrophic World Cup campaign in Qatar tarnished his legacy and did nothing to challenge the belief that Ronaldo was now far more trouble than he was worth.

Benzema, by complete contrast, was the reigning Ballon d'Or holder and, for all his increasing injury issues, had still scored 31 goals in 43 appearances in all competitions during the 2022-23 campaign. Tellingly, coach Carlo Ancelotti was desperate to keep him.

Benzema, though, turned down Madrid's offer of a contract extension to sign a massive deal with Al-Ittihad, who had just been taken over by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF). The numbers were staggering, but one could understand the thinking behind the transfer. Benzema would add even greater legitimacy to the league than Ronaldo, meaning other high-profile players would follow the Frenchman to Saudi Arabia, and so it proved.

Neymar was the most eye-catching acquisition for Al-Hilal (another club taken over by PIF), but Al-Ittihad further strengthened their 2022-23 title-winning squad with midfield duo Fabinho and N'Golo Kante.

Benzema was obviously the big draw, though. As club president Anmar Bin Abdullah Alhailae said, "all eyes will be on Karim" - and they most definitely were when he made his debut on July 27, in the Arab Club Champions Cup. Benzema didn't disappoint either, scoring the winner in a 2-1 win over Esperance de Tunis.

He proved decisive again in Al-Ittihad's two subsequent group-stage games, against Club Sfaxien and Al-Shorta. Nuno Espirito Santo's side may have then been eliminated in the quarter-finals, but with Benzema having seemingly settled quickly into his new surroundings, the champions looked a good bet to retain their Saudi Pro League title when the new season got under way in the middle of August.

However, while Al-Ittihad won their opening two games without conceding a goal, Benzema failed to score in either victory and, ahead of the meeting with Al-Riyadh on August 24, media outlet Al-Sharq Al-Awsat claimed that there was tension behind the scenes.

According to the report, Nuno had not been consulted on the signing of Benzema and deemed the attacker incompatible with his tactical game plan. It was alleged that Benzema was "not comfortable" playing under the Portuguese as a consequence, and felt that the coach was not treating him in a "professional" manner. They had also apparently clashed over the captaincy.

The following day, though, Benzema wore the armband against Al-Riyadh and opened his Pro League account with the first goal in an impressive 4-0 win.

Even more significantly, Benzema moved to quash rumours of a falling-out with team-mate Abderrazak Hamdallah, Al-Ittihad's top scorer during last season's title triumph, by handing him the ball following the award of a first-half penalty.

After the game, Nuno also angrily addressed talk of a rift between him and his star player. "I want to clarify one thing," Nuno told a press conference. "I read in the press that my relationship with Karim was not good. Those who know me will know, of course, that this is bullsh*t!

"My relationship with all the players is good. We have a strong group relationship and we are happy with all the players. We are happy that Karim is here with us. He is happy, as you can see on the pitch. He is enjoying playing for Al-Ittihad. I understand where he comes from. But we are a strong group, we are a very strong group."

That may very well be the case, but there have been increasing signs of weakness in recent weeks. The cracks first started to appear at the start of November, when Al-Ittihad lost their 100 percent record by blowing a 3-1 lead in a 4-3 loss at home to their biggest rivals, Al-Hilal, that featured a hat-trick from Aleksandar Mitrovic.

They bounced back with narrow wins over Al-Okhdood and Al-Fateh, with Benzema scoring the decisive goal against the former. However, the titleholders have now failed to win any of their last four league games, which has seen them slump from first to sixth in the table, eight points behind Al-Hilal.

They also required penalties to beat second-division side Al-Kholood in the King's Cup, and though they have since gone on to secure a quarter-final berth in the competition, and have won two from two in the AFC Champions League, their Pro League form has some worried as to whether their title defence is already petering out. Consequently, the pressure is mounting on both Nuno and Benzema.

Nuno's tactics and line-ups have become a major topic of debate among frustrated fans. Last season, the former Spurs boss was praised not only for the efficacy and defensive solidity of his preferred 4-3-3 formation, but also his versatility, with the ex-Tottenham boss switching systems, sometimes to a back three, to suit the players available to him at any given time.

However, this term, he has stubbornly stuck to playing two up top in a desperate attempt to keep both Benzema and the equally egocentric Hamdallah happy. Al-Ittihad have, therefore, lost the balance and cohesion that was key to their championship success, with their two key creative attacking midfielders, Igor Coronado and Romarinho, looking like fish out of water on the wings.

Santo even employed a bold 4-2-4 formation against Al-Ahli that backfired badly, and while it's clear that his cause has hardly been helped by injuries to key centre-backs Ahmed Hegazi and Ahmed Sharahili, or Fabinho's poor form, which has further weakened what was the best defensive unit in the league last year, speculation is rife that the Al-Ittihad board are already searching for a replacement for the man that led them to victory in last season's title race over Ronaldo's Al-Nassr.

However, a change of manager doesn't appear imminent simply because the board is reluctant to take such drastic action ahead of December's Club World Cup, which Saudi Arabia is hosting and Al-Ittihad are participating in, and it's worth noting that Nuno did revert to a 4-3-3 for the King's Cup victory over Al-Feiha, with Romarinho and Benzema playing either side of Hamdallah.

Benzema and Hamdallah both scored in the 3-0 winm but doubts persists over the wisdom of crowbarring the two No.9s into the starting line-up because of the negative effect on the overall tactical set-up.

It's worth pointing out that if the Al-Ittihad hierarchy had got their, Benzema wouldn't have been the biggest signing the club made during the summer window, despite his status in the game.

It was they who had a £150 million ($189m) bid for Mohamed Salah rejected in September as they tried in vain to bring the Liverpool forward and most-recognisable Arab footballer to the Pro League. Perhaps if they had made their bid earlier in the summer, it would have been accepted, but waiting until the Premier League window was about to close meant the Reds were never going to let their star man leave Anfield.

Benzema wasn't, however, the only attacker to arrive from Europe in pre-season. In fact, it was felt that Al-Ittihad had pulled off something of a coup when they paid a club-record £25m ($32m) to sign Celtic winger Jota in July.

The Benfica academy product was coming off two highly-impressive seasons at Parkhead under Ange Postecoglu, as the he provided 54 combined goals and assists in 83 games. At 24, Jota was also one of the younger players to arrive into the Pro League amid the influx of talent from Europe, and was regarded by many as the man to provide Benzema with plenty of chances to wrack up goals.

Instead, Jota's time in Saudi Arabia has turned into a nightmare. He failed to force his way into the line-up to start the season and only made brief cameos as a substitute in Ittihad's first five league matches. As if things couldn't get any worse, he was then left out of the club's Pro League squad at the close of the transfer window, making him ineligible to appear in anything but cup matches until at least the mid-season break in December.

Unsurprisingly, reports of Jota wanting to leave have been rife ever since. He remains on the club's books despite rumours in September that he was about to rip up his contract, and it seems almost certain that he will be on the move back to Europe when the January window opens.

Who knows how things would have gone if Jota had been able to convince Nuno of his abilities, but then the coach is also struggling to stay on positive terms with the players he is picking...

It's worth noting that Hamdallah fell out with Nuno following Benzema's arrival, with the Moroccan upset that he had been seemingly replaced without warning, and he was only convinced to stay at the club days before the start of the 2023-24 campaign. There were nonetheless calls from some supporters to sell the 32-year-old before the close of the transfer window for some alleged selfishness in front of goal. The fear remains, then, that Hamdallah might decide he wants out again in January.

If a star forward is to leave, of course, it certainly won't be Benzema. His massive contract runs until the summer of 2026, after all. However, he is not exactly being viewed as value for money right now.

He has been on target in each of his last two league outings, but it's worth pointing out that despite breaking the deadlock against Al-Taawoun, he also effectively cost this side two points by scoring an own-goal equaliser.

Benzema looked far more like his old self against Al-Hazm, scoring one goal and creating another in the 2-2 draw, but his overall numbers are not befitting someone on such a sizable salary. He's only been directly involved in eight league goals to date - 11 fewer than Ronaldo - and is being outscored by the likes of Georges-Kevin Nkoudou, Malcom, Moussa Dembele and Mourad Batna.

Even when he has found the back of the net, as against Al-Okhdood for example, his own fans have accused him of being "lazy" and "unwilling" to play his part in the construction of play. A change of manager, then, might not solve all of Al-Ittihad's problems unless they bring the best out of Benzema.

All is not lost, of course. Al-Ittihad have a favourable run of fixtures coming up that presents an opportunity to propel themselves back into the title race. They do not play a team that is currently above them in the table until a showdown with Ronaldo's Al-Nassr on December 26, although they have been struggling to beat the teams below them of late.

And besides, Benzema said he wanted a new challenge when he left Madrid during the summer. In Jeddah right now, he's got one.