Menez: Benzema is still shutting people up after ten years at Real Madrid

Karim Benzema is still shutting his critics up, ten years into his career at Real Madrid, according to former international team-mate Jeremy Menez.

Menez and Benzema were part of the France team that won the under-17 European Championship in 2004, but the pair have had contrasting careers since then.

While Benzema went straight from boyhood club Lyon to Madrid in 2009 and hasn’t looked back, Menez has played for nine clubs in four countries and now finds himself in the French second tier with Paris FC.

“Of course, you can only admire his career,” he said of Benzema in an interview with Foot Mercato.

“Being a player at Real Madrid for ten years, not many players have done that. Despite everything that has been said about him, he is still there, he’s working hard and he’s shutting people up.

“At any given moment you can make your career, but we have to recognise one thing: he was probably a harder worker than us and he got what he deserved, that’s all.”

Benzema has won two Spanish titles and four Champions Leagues among other honours at Madrid, and sits behind only Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul and Alfredo di Stefano in the club’s all-time top scorers chart.

Despite these achievements, he has generally gone under the radar as a player at the very top end of the game, rarely in the spotlight.