Fabrizio Romano refutes rumours claiming Real Madrid center forward Karim Benzema's transfer to Al-Ittihad is already a done deal..

Sky Sports' renowned Italian transfer journalist, Fabrizio Romano, has refuted rumours claiming that Real Madrid's former France international center forward Karim Benzema's move to Al-Ittihad is already a done deal.

Romano clarified that while Benzema has indeed received an offer from Al-Ittihad, it is too early to say at this stage that the Real Madrid super striker has confirmed his move to the Saudi Arabian club.

He also said that the Saudi Pro League giants have indeed made the greatest efforts to try to persuade Benzema to join, but the player still decided to meet with Los Blancos chairman Florentino Perez to discuss contract renewal issue before making a decision sooner rather than later.

The 35-year-old Karim Benzema was born in Lyon, France on December 19, 1987. He is 1.85 meters tall and plays as a center forward. He has dual citizenship of France and Algeria.

Benzema joined the Lyon youth academy when he was 10 years old, completed his first-team debut in January 2005 and won 4 Ligue 1, 1 Coupe de France and 2 Trophée des Champions with the club.

In July 2009, Benzema moved to Real Madrid for €41 million.

So far this season, Benzema has played 42 times for the La Liga giants in all competitions, scoring 30 goals and assisting 6 times, leading the team to win the Copa de Rey, the FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.