Benzema dethrones Mbappé and ties Henry’s record. Did he deserve to win the award?

Karim Benzema was named the best French footballer of the past year, ending a little dominance by Kylian Mbappé, who had won the award in the two previous editions. However, there are question marks over whether Benzema deserves the award.

The year 2019 and 2020 clearly belonged to Kylian Mbappe in French football, who won the award, which is given to the best French footballer, twice in a row. This year, however, he didn’t go for a third consecutive win. He was beaten by Karim Benzema.

Mbappé’s teammate from the France national team and Real Madrid’s star striker had a successful last year. He scored 38 goals, shone at EURO 2021 and won the Nations League with France. That’s plenty of reason to win the award.

However, some fans disagree with the choice of winner. The reason? Kylian Mbappé also represented France and scored more goals than Benzema last year. He became only the 20th player to score 50 goals in a calendar year.

The award, however, went to Benzema. He managed to score one more goal for France than his younger teammate. Kylian Mbappé congratulated his national teammate via Instagram.

Other candidates for the award included Chelsea’s N’Golo Kanté, Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann and Blaise Matuidi, who currently plays in MLS for Inter Miami.

Benzema won the award for the best French player for the fourth time. However, he was announced as the winner after seven long years. This December, the Frenchman will celebrate his 35th birthday, yet he has been putting in fantastic performances.

Only one Frenchman has won this award more times than Benzema. That is Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, who won the poll five times between 2000 and 2006.

Source: DailyMail