Real Madrid star willing to listen to offers from European clubs if the Los Blancos don't increase his salary - Reports

Karim Benzema is reportedly willing to listen to offers before holding talks with Real Madrid over a new contract. The French striker is heading to the end of his contract and will be a free agent in the summer.

As per a report in El Nacional, Benzema is open to leaving Real Madrid in the summer. He is free to hold talks with any club right now, as he is in the final six months of his contract.

However, he has no intentions of joining Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia. The forward wants to remain in Europe and play in one of the top leagues instead of heading off for a big contract.

Real Madrid are keen on keeping the forward next season and are waiting for the right time to hold talks. Benzema has also insisted that he would like to retire at Santiago Bernabeu and said:

"I will retire in Real Madrid. There's no other option for me."

However, he has one preferred destination if he has to leave Madrid. The Frenchman has spoken about his dream of rejoining Olympique Lyon as it remains his club in France. He said:

"I left a good image in Lyon; it has to stay like that. You can't leave; [and just] come back. I did what I had to do. Lyon remains my heart club. If I can come back, it will be to work there one day."

Benzema has scored 348 goals and provided 165 assists in 637 games for Real Madrid since joining the club from Lyon in 2009.

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Karim Benzema on his role changing at Real Madrid

Karim Benzema has spoken about his role at Los Blancos and claimed that it has changed over the years. He believes that the current role is not just scoring goals, but also helping in the build-up and assisting.

He said:

"The more you think about the game and you respect football, the more goals you'll score, it's that simple. If you only think about scoring, if you come up against two good defenders it's over. Since you can't play football – you can't play one-touch, you can't move, all you have is scoring."

The Spanish giants have a tough fixture coming up as they face Chelsea at home in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals this week (April 12).