Karim Benzema’s Real Madrid contract will automatically extend by one season if he wins Ballon d’Or: Reports

Karim Benzema's contract at Real Madrid will be automatically extended by a year if he wins the Ballon d'Or on October 17 in Paris, as per Spanish outlet Relevo.

The France international is in the final year of his deal at the Santiago Bernabeu but his stay could be extended until the summer of 2024 due to this special clause. He will be 35 by the time this season ends, which makes a new long-term contract at Madrid highly unlikely.

Benzema, despite his age, has played some of his best football in the past 12 months. The former Olympique Lyonnais striker ended last season with 44 goals and 15 assists in 46 games across competitions.

The five-time UEFA Champions League winner has started the current campaign in fine fashion as well, scoring thrice and assisting once in five La Liga games. The Frenchman has scored four goals in eight appearances across all competitions.

Benzema is arguably the favorite to win the Ballon d'Or later this month. Messi, by his own admission, had a poor debut season in France and has not made the shortlist for the Ballon d'Or. Cristiano Ronaldo finished last season as Manchester United's top scorer with 24 goals in 38 games across competitions.

However, a lack of team trophies and United's failure to finish in the top four overshadowed this respectable feat. Benzema's most serious opponent could be Bayern Munich's Sadio Mane.

The Senegalese reached three cup finals with Liverpool last season, winning the FA Cup and the EFL Cup. Unlike Benzema's Real Madrid, however, the Reds failed to win the league or the Champions League title.

Mane also led Senegal to their first-ever Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) trophy in their history in February and helped them qualify for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. However, Benzema is arguably odds-on to win the trophy - a notion with which even Barcelona's Jordi Alba agrees.

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Real Madrid's Karim Benzema could become first France player in 24 years to win Ballon d'Or

Benzema could become the first French player to win the Ballon d'Or since Zinedine Zidane lifted the trophy in 1998 during his time at Juventus.

The other three winners from France are Michael Platini, who won a hat-trick of titles between 1983 and 1985, Raymond Kopa (1958), and Jean Pierre-Papin (1991).

PSG's Messi won the award for the seventh time last year, majorly for his 2020-21 season with Barcelona. Luka Modric, meanwhile, was the last player from Real Madrid to win the trophy, doing so in 2018 after Croatia finished as runners-up in the FIFA World Cup that year.

Real Madrid also completed their famous three-peat of Champions League titles in 2018, an accomplishment in which Modric played 11 of the club's 13 games.