Karim Benzema Replacement Odds: Kai Havertz, Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo all options for Real Madrid I BettingOdds.com

There’s no doubting Karim Benzema’s legendary status at Real Madrid. From winning every single trophy available to him to winning individual awards like the Ballon d’Or, the Frenchman’s time in Spain will be remembered by all of the football world.

But where do Madrid go from here? They’ve been linked with several players to replace the big man up top and we’ll look at what the betting sites are suggesting in terms of a replacement for Real Madrid.

Kai Havertz to Madrid has been the talk of social media of late as Real are reportedly heavily interested in signing the German from Chelsea. Fabrizio Romano has reported that personal terms are not an issue as the Germany international would be more than happy to leave Chelsea for Madrid, they are just waiting on a fee to be agreed, which is expected to be around £60m.

Despite winning the Champions League with Chelsea, and scoring the winning goal in the final, his time at Stamford Bridge has been relatively disappointing. In the Bundesliga he proved he was more than capable in front of goal. Before he signed for Chelsea he enjoyed back-to-back seasons where he registered double-digit league goals, something he is yet to achieve in the Premier League.

Havertz is clearly a solid player, is still very young and with his time at Chelsea not going to plan, Real Madrid could offer him a golden exit opportunity. This could be a move that suits all three parties.

Harry Kane has seen his odds to join Real Madrid slashed recently with the news of Benzema leaving. Harry Kane was odds on with some bookmakers to sign for Manchester United this summer, but with Real Madrid now in desperate need of a striker the Englishman has been backed into around 6/4 to join Madrid. This means the odds compilers now believe he is more likely to head to La Liga than Old Trafford.

Kane really needs no introduction these days, he’s about as prolific as it gets and in many eyes a top-three striker in world football. Real Madrid have chased Kane in the past but Spurs are always reluctant to sell their star man. Well, this time they’ve got a big choice to make. He’ll be out of contract next summer and will be approaching 31 years old, so Spurs can either cash in now or lose him on a free transfer. It’ll take something big to get Kane out of England with the Premier League goals record in his sights, but an opportunity to join the biggest club in the world would definitely be big enough.

It feels like Mbappe has been linked to Real Madrid every window since he burst onto the scene and after Benzema announced his departure, Mbappe’s odds were cut from 12/1 to 6/1 to join Real Madrid this summer.

Whilst it is still highly unlikely that they secure arguably the most desirable player in all of football, there’s a clear link between the two and most of us are expecting to see Mbappe play for Madrid at some point in his career. Last season Mbappe was dead-set on leaving PSG, until they offered him a new contract which came with some absurd perks including a minority stake in the club. During that time Mbappe went as short as 1/2 to sign for Real. 

The main thing that makes this deal unlikely is the cost of the transfer. Mbappe’s contract on his end is about as solid as it gets and if they want to buy him out of that, they’ll need to offer some crazy add-ons and a huge transfer fee. The youngster would have to work some magic to get out of his contract which is why I don’t see this deal happening. Not this summer anyway.

Another player that has seen their odds to join Real Madrid change is none other than Cristiano Ronaldo. Real Madrid fans are all too familiar with CR7 and he’s reportedly trying to force his way out of Saudi Arabia already.

The odds for Ronaldo’s next club were all over the place before Benzema’s departure, but now the betting sites make Real Madrid the frontrunner to sign the 38-year-old. Before this, most had Newcastle as the favourite, albeit at a big price of 6/1, but now we’re looking at 10/3 for Real which was previously as big as 12/1.

A return to Real Madrid would be legendary but the same could have been said for his move back to the Premier League. Ultimately, United and Ronaldo didn’t work out and as painful as it is for football fans, he is now 38 years of age and is well into his decline. Could he still do a job in one of the top leagues? Of course, it’s Ronaldo. But Real Madrid aren’t big on signing old players just because they hold legendary status. For the price it would cost you’d think they’d be all over investing in someone that is going to last them five or six seasons, not one or two you get from Ronaldo.