Karim Benzema and Nuno Espirito Santo’s furious Ittihad dressing room clash LEAKED as boss is sacked

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A clash with Karim Benzema was reportedly at the heart of Al-Ittihad's decision to axe Nuno Espirito Santo – and a report in Saudi Arabia has leaked exactly what was said between the two.

Ittihad won the Saudi Pro League last year and were expected to go strong after a vast influx of box office talent. They spent more than £100million on new stars while they also picked up Benzema and N'Golo Kante on free transfers, and their squad is seemingly strong enough that £25m signing Jota from Celtic didn't even make the cut for league duties.

But they fell to a damaging 2-0 defeat to Iraqi side Al-Quwa in the AFC Champions League on Monday, and with the team sitting SIXTH in the domestic league, the decision was taken to part with Santo less than 18 months after his arrival.

Reports in Saudi Arabia emerged shortly after the bombshell announcement that a fallout with 2022 Ballon d'Or winner Benzema was at the root of it and Al Riyadh have revealed the exchange that led to his downfall.It's claimed the former Tottenham and Wolves boss told Benzema he was "too lazy to put pressure on your rival" after they drew a blank in Iraq.