JEDDAH — More than 62,000 excited fans of Al-Ittihad Club are expected to converge at the stands of Al-Jawhara stadium of King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah to greet their hero Karim Benzema after his joining of their favorite club.

Al-Ittihad is organizing a special ceremony to welcome the international star, who is set to arrive in Jeddah within a couple of hours.

The gathering of the jubilant fans will be for the second time in a week, when they gathered to celebrate Al-Ittihad’s crowning of Saudi Pro League title last Wednesday after a long wait of 14 years. Al-Ittihad Club officials started on Wednesday offering tickets for the fans to participate in the reception of Benzema.

The French striker Benzema, Ballon d'Or winner for 2022, signed a three-season contract with Al-Ittihad on Tuesday. In a statement on its Twitter account, Al-Ittihad posted a link to obtain tickets for the grand reception party, with a caption: “In Jeddah, we meet.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Al-Ittihad announced that the former Real Madrid captain, who won 25 titles with the Spanish team, is on his way to Jeddah. In a video posted by Al-Ittihad via its Twitter account, Benzema said while addressing the team’s fans on Wednesday: “I am excited to see you in Jeddah.”

Al-Ittihad has reached an agreement with French striker Karim Benzema as a free agent after Real Madrid had confirmed that the 35-year-old would leave the LaLiga club after 14 trophy-laden years.

Al-Ittihad’s chairman and vice chairman were in Madrid to hammer out a “record deal” with Benzema, according to Al-Ekhbaria television. The Frenchman is the second-highest goal-scorer with 353 goals for Madrid in all competitions, only behind Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored 450 goals.

© Copyright 2022 The Saudi Gazette. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).