The European press has been writing his decline story for two years. It has the wrong story.
Benzema's move to Al-Ittihad was not the end. It was a choice. He is 36 years old. He has won everything available in European football. He has earned the right to play for the contract terms he wants, in the country he wants, alongside the players he wants. He took those terms.
The football has been mixed. Some excellent moments. Some quiet matches. About what you would expect from a 36-year-old striker in any context. The European press has chosen to dwell on the quiet matches, framing them as proof that the move was a mistake.
This is the same press that, six months earlier, was celebrating his Ballon d'Or-winning season as the conclusion of a brilliant career. The same career that, by their telling, somehow now needs to be defended.
The contradiction does not get acknowledged. Benzema is now a useful figure for a story the European press wants to tell, which is that the Saudi project is failing. His mixed form is evidence. His occasional brilliance is anomaly. His decision to be there at all is incomprehensible.
He is fine. He is paid. He is playing football he wants to play. The European press's discomfort with this configuration is, again, a story about the European press, not about Benzema.