French striker Karim Benzema reportedly paid a visit to Jeddah's old town on Sunday accompanied by a police escort, hours after arriving in Saudi Arabia for the next chapter of his footballing career.
Benzema went to a cafe in Jeddah with officials from the city’s Al Ittihad football club with which he signed a two-year contract last month, Saudi local media reported.
He was also toured around Old Jeddah, according to the reports.
A video posted to social media by an Al Ittihad news account purportedly shows a car crawling through narrow streets in the city, following a police vehicle.
The club’s official Twitter account posted a video on Sunday of the arrival of its big signings from the past weeks in Jeddah — Benzema, Frenchman and former Chelsea star N’golo Kante, and Portuguese winger Joao Pedro Neves Filipe, better known as Jota.
The European stars were purchased by Al-Ittihad as part of a drive by Saudi Arabia to increase its football top flight’s world standing.
Among its targets is French midfielder Paul Pogba, who is reportedly weighing up an offer from Al Ittihad.
Produced by Reem Khabbazy