Karim Benzema's transfer decision couldn't be more obvious amid Chelsea, Arsenal, and Man Utd interest

There was a time when Chelsea would collect illustrious strikers like Pokemon cards. Expensive and dangerously hyped, these big names would roll through Stamford Bridge like a stampede of clumsy buffalo ghosts, unsettling everybody and doing little else besides blundering their way to ignominy.

In no particular order, the likes of Radamel Falcao, Andriy Shevchenko, Gonzalo Higuain, Alvaro Morata, Claudio Pizarro, Romelu Lukaku, Mateja Kezman, Hernan Crespo, Samuel Eto'o, Romelu Lukaku again, and Fernando Torres among many, many others came and went to varying degrees of success and shame. But there is one who has inexplicably eluded them.

I want you to close your eyes for a moment. Or rather, don't, because you won't be able to read what I'm about to write next. In a figurative sense, close your eyes. Picture Karim Benzema in a Chelsea shirt. Surprisingly easy, isn't it? Almost 'Mandela Effect' easy, right? There is something about the thought of the veteran striker in that particular shade of royal blue that feels correct, familiar even. Maybe, I hear you cry, it is because we are used to seeing him in a France shirt - and maybe it is, except that still doesn't explain why I can just as vividly envisage him with 'Yokohama Tyres' or 'Infinite Athlete' emblazoned across his midriff. In decades to come, when my memory is leaky and my brain is dribbling out of my ear like tepid porridge, if you were to tell me that Benzema spent an ill-fated season in West London during the twilight years of his career, I wouldn't question it for one second. And he still may get the opportunity to make that fiction a reality.

At the time of writing, Benzema is employed by Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Ittihad, although he continually gives the impression of a man who does not want to be. The 36-year-old reportedly takes a loose view of training ground attendance, and is making noises behind the scenes about the prospect of moving back to Europe this month, despite only arriving in the Middle East over the summer. I believe the youths might call that 'quiet quitting', in a sense.

Anyways, while respected French outlet L'Equipe report that he will stay in Saudi Arabia, for the time being at least, speculation elsewhere continues to gather pace in that giddy manner that it does. Chelsea, as you might have deduced, are one club who have been touted as a prospective destination for Benzema, but so have Arsenal, and so have Manchester United. In other words, it's the usual suspects.

Of that trio, however, Chelsea feel like the most likely fit for the disgruntled talisman. Logic says that any English club is going to struggle to afford Benzema's wages - even on a reduced, temporary basis - but if there is a Premier League owner who deals in laughing at the shackles of measured reason, it is Todd 'The Hot Rod' Boehly. Even with a reported annual salary of £88 million to consider, you would fancy that the Blues might still take a crack at luring the Frenchman to Stamford Bridge for a short while. You suspect a lot of it will depend on how Benzema and his agents feel about Klarna payments.

And lord knows Chelsea need a striker of some description. Nicolas Jackson might as well be Janet Jackson for what use he has been this season, Christopher Nkunku continues to be blighted by injury, and Armando Broja drifts about the gaff like the Phantom of the Opera - all pageantry, no punch.

With the pesky nerds at Financial Fair Play keeping a beady eye on them, however, it is unclear as to whether Chelsea have the breathing space required to pull out £100 million for an Ivan Toney or a Victor Osimhen this month. In that regard, Benzema could be the perfect fleeting acquisition, a stop gap capable of tiding them over until the end of the season when they can properly reload their cannons and have a blast at a fresher face who can lead the line for years to come.

As for Benzema himself, this would be an escape pod lined with gold, and one that comes with the reassurance of ephemerality and a guarantee that no matter how underwhelming things turn out, he can't be any worse than the options Mauricio Pochettino already has at his disposal. Surely.

There are obstacles, of course - big, hulking ones that come with lots of zeroes and paperwork attached, but for two footballing entities in the unfavourable positions that Chelsea and Benzema seemingly find themselves, this could be a temporary alliance that suits both rather well.