Far be it from me to be touting teams’ best players around the league like a mercenary agent. But the Guardian has speculated, by proxy, that one of the success stories of the season, Christian Benteke, could be leaving for Borussia Dortmund this summer.
Most footy speculation of course borders on the absurd, but we find this one particularly hard to swallow. With goal scorers as hard as ever to find, it seems crazy that The Premier League would allow such a tried and tested talent to take off.
Chelsea of course already have Romelu Lukaku to come back from West Brom, but you sense that they want another forward to add to their almost ridiculous array of midfield maestros. The service is there but Chelsea need a finisher.
And who better than Benteke? A no nonsense monster of a player who reminds us so much, in terms of playing style, of the legend that was Didier Drogba. Like the Ivorian there is so much more to Benteke’s game than the obvious and ample power. The Villa striker can of course hold his own against the toughest of opponents but, like Drogba, he also has fantastic feet and superb awareness of the game.
It’s quite early on in his career but, if this season has been anything to go by (19 league goals in 34 games for a struggling Villa) then his future should glitter.
With his club staying up, Paul Lambert will be desperate to keep the striker and we wish him the best of luck. It will be particularly hard to retain the services of such a quality player but, if they do have to part with him, they can look forward to a fat old cheque at the end of it.
Chelsea need a striker moving forward and Benteke seems to tick all the boxes. At 22, and with Premier League experience under his belt, he may well represent a lower risk purchase than some of the other names being touted for Chelsea this summer.
Villa fans, would you be happy to let Benteke go for £30m?
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TJ
May 14, 2013 at 5:03 pm
£30 million is about the right price. I’ve seen 15, 20 and 25 million quoted but there’s just no way Villa would let him go for that – no matter what fans of other clubs think he is worth.
Benteke is happy at Villa and though he may well be tempted by Champions League football, I don’t think he’s in any hurry to leave. He wants guaranteed first team football in the year leading up to the World Cup, which he’ll get at Villa.
I think he’ll stay on an improved contract if we stay up (which we could know by tonight). And I think unless somebody offers over £30 million, Villa will tell clubs they can shove their cash up their…
I’d be gutted if he leaves. He’s genuinely a world class talent and will only get better. As for Chelsea…well he got 31 goals this season for Villa, Genk and Belgium. Considering he’s improved a hell of a lot over the course of the season…I dread to think what he could do with that kind of service.
Steve Ward
May 14, 2013 at 9:33 pm
I am sure Christian would love to play alongside Terry, especially after he kicked him up in air and then used all his professionalism to ensure his sending off on Saturday!
Should Christian leave Villa he can do far better than Chelsea.
Jon Law
May 14, 2013 at 9:52 pm
It would have to be £35m to Chelsea, the diving gits
Champions of Europe
Jun 1, 2013 at 3:06 pm
He’s not good enough for Chelsea, severely over rated. He’s just another Ba. We need a world class striker, not a mid table duffer.