Speaking to RMC Sport, Djaziri said the striker had given serious thought to going back to the club where he began his senior career, but remained tied to Saudi Arabia through his agreement there.
“He thought about it for a long time, but his contract binds him to Saudi Arabia,” Djaziri said.
The adviser also emphasised the personal significance Lyon holds for the 38-year-old, who came through the club’s academy before moving to Real Madrid in 2009.
“Lyon is his city, his team, his club. Karim has only played for two clubs in Europe during his career. A career with that kind of continuity is very rare nowadays,” Djaziri added.
Benzema is currently without a club, but the report says he has a special ambassadorial role connected to the Saudi Pro League. RMC Sport reported that the arrangement is worth tens of millions of euros annually, a commitment that complicates the prospect of a return to European football.
The proposed Lyon reunion would have brought Benzema back to the city where he grew up and developed into one of France’s leading forwards. Instead, the contractual arrangement in Saudi Arabia proved the obstacle, despite his reported willingness to consider the move.
Benzema spent the bulk of his European career at Real Madrid after leaving Lyon, winning major domestic and continental honours in Spain and receiving the 2022 Ballon d’Or. His time at Lyon remains central to his story, having progressed from the club’s youth ranks into the first team before earning his move to Madrid.
Djaziri’s comments indicate that the idea was seriously considered rather than being merely a speculative link. However, the financial and contractual commitments associated with Saudi Arabia made a return difficult to arrange.
With Benzema currently unattached as a player, the precise terms of his ongoing Saudi role are not fully clear from the public information. What Djaziri has made clear is that the agreement there was decisive in preventing the Lyon move.
For supporters hoping to see the former France international finish his career at his boyhood club, the reunion remains an opportunity that was considered but ultimately did not happen.