Karim Benzema feels under "pressure" at his Saudi club Al-Ittihad and wants to leave "temporarily", a source close to the club told AFP on Tuesday.

Al-Ittihad offered to loan the French striker to another club in the Saudi Pro League but he has refused, the source added.

Benzema, 36, had a meeting with the club that was described as bad-tempered.

He told the meeting "he doesn't feel he is able to give his best because of the current pressure at Ittihad".

Contacted by AFP, Benzema's entourage declined to comment.

Read full story on sport.timesofmalta.com

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.