Former agent insists Benzema wants to return to Lyon before the end of career

Karim Benzema has his heart set on playing for Lyon again before retiring from the game, the striker's former agent has claimed.

The 33-year-old left the Ligue 1 side for Real Madrid in 2009 in an initial £30million deal, and the former France star has gone on to score 264 goals in 537 appearances across all competitions since his move.

His goals have helped the Spanish champions win three LaLiga titles and four Champions League crowns, but sees his contract with Zinedine Zidane's men expire at the end of next season.

And speaking to Inside Gones, Benzema's former representative Karim Djaziri claimed that despite his almost legendary status at Real, the forward wants to go back to where it all began for him in professional football at some stage.

'Will Karim Benzema return to Lyon? Yes, I think he wants to,' Djaziri said. 'He talks to me constantly and he watches the team's matches.

'On top of that, he has never been to the Groupama Stadium and in his mind it is something he wants, he has Lyon in his heart.

'There is everything at OL for Karim. He does not want to come back to Lyon and not have the legs.

'He is torn between leaving the biggest club in the world and returning to Lyon, it is a question of timing.

'In his dreams, he has to come back to Lyon and do great things. Wearing the armband with young people nearby, that can be magic.'

The Groupama Stadium replaced the French side's former ground, the Stade de Gerland, in January 2016.

This is not the first time Djaziri has claimed Benzema wants to seal a return to his former hunting ground.

When asked on OL TV in July last year if a return to Lyon for his former client is possible, he replied, as reported by Get French Football News:  'Yes I think that it is possible.

'If he still has legs and he says that now is the moment to go and do something good, he will come back.

'If it is not as a player, I can see him come back to Lyon in another role maybe. I know that he really wants that.'

Benzema has netted 15 goals for far for Madrid this season but little progress appears to have been made in extending his current deal.