Christian Benteke

[Spoony]

I just hope we dont get taken for a ride by spurs and that tit levy, they have obviously already had words with his agent (or someone has) and the longer it drags on spurs will be trying to get him on the cheap. I'll be pissed if he leaves but ill be even more pissed if he goes on the cheap.

 

The downing and milner deals (forgetting ireland) gives me a bit of hope that we will hold out only they were different in that liverpool are too thick and citeh have more money than sense..

Won't happen. The club seem pretty firm on that and I don't think they'll budge. We're COMPLETELY in the driving seat here

[Morpheus]

 

 

 

 

 

Mantis what are you on? I mean where have i stated that we should 'get inferior players just so they won't perform really well and then leave after a good season or two?'

 

 

We can also sign good experienced players as a base in which we can then build our youth around. We did it too much under O'Neil and not enough under Lambert so we have never really had a decent balance between both and if we continue to base our transfer policy on mainly youth then due to our present standing in football at the moment if those youthful players progress then they will be off in the same way as Benteke.

 

I have no doubt that if Lowton and Westwood have another good season then they will be cherry picked too so the vicious circle continues of buying and selling while we stagnate because we simply can't offer even the glimmer of european football at the moment.

 

Thats what i meant by 'rich financially and poor on success.'

 

 

Thing is, if a player comes in and performs like Benteke did last season then you will always have bigger clubs after him.

 

I think you're misinterpreting Lambert's approach. It isn't about deliberately buying prospects with the intention of selling them on at a higher price in the future. Clearly the club would prefer to keep Benteke.

 

........................Christain Bentekke walks into a bar..........

...has one drink and walks straight back out again

 

No i'm not misinterpreting Lambert's approach at all and i know he wants to build something here but its the economics of the situation we are in.

 

Team who have over the last three seasons flirted with relegation. Club chairman who is more interested in wage structure than the investment needed to push us on. (Lack of investment in January very nearly rebounded on us). Lack of investment could also be construed as lack of ambition by players and agents alike. Manager trying to restructure the club on a limited budget with youthful inexperience which could also be seen by players and agents as trying to do the impossible in a league run and based on investment which equates to continual lack of success.

 

Which equates to players continually wanting to leave and not giving us the chance to build a team which has enough quality to challenge for the success that will actually keep the quality players at the club.

 

 

And yet even when Lerner was spending big and we were pushing for top 4 our best player (Barry) still wanted to leave. It's naive to think that Benteke's leaving because Lambert's buying inexperienced players or because we had a relegation scare. It's principally about wages.

 

Just what is it that you would like to see (realistically) happen at Villa exactly?

 

 

'Principally about wages.' How do you know this?

 

I've answered your last question a million times on here so no need to do it again.

 

 

Because that's what it's normally about. On the flip side, how do you know that it's about all the things you mentioned?

 

I don't recall ever asking you what you would like to see happen at Villa.

 

You've just made a statement Mantis saying that the reason Benteke is leaving is due to wages. The fact is no-one knows why he is leaving and there are more reasons than just wages for players leaving clubs.

[DeHavilland]

He ain't going anywhere on the cheap, that's the only certain thing.

I had a mooch around some of them London club sites, and its quite surprising how badly his transfer request has been viewed, and it hasn't gone unnoticed that his agents approach too loyalty is somewhat dubious.

If the people who hold the purse strings at Spuds, Chelski, Arse etc. are the same as the fans, his agent may have got this badly wrong.

Edited July 9, 2013 by DeHavilland

[snowychap]

We're COMPLETELY in the driving seat here

Really?

I think we (and other clubs, too) are totally at the mercy of the player('s agents) and finances.

[GlastonSpur]

My take on all this:

 

Benteke wants to sign for Spurs. This is partly because he doesn't want to risk spending lots of time on the bench at somewhere like Chelsea. But Spurs are never going to offer £25m (far less more than that). My guess would be that we might offer £19m, at the very most, and even that would break our transfer record.

 

For argument's sake, let's say the offer was £19m, which is £11m more than you paid for him, or so I gather.

 

Villa would then have a very difficult choice IMO - regardless of those of you will say that a flat rejection should be automatic and easy. Because if the answer is "no", then you end up without £19m (and £11m profit), plus a very unhappy player who is likely to be a disruptive influence within the club. Yes, players who want to leave can be forced to stay. We did that with Modric for a year, but the difference (compared to Benteke) was:

 

* He was on much higher wages already - i.e. without needing to sign a new contract to get them, a new contract that he was not willing to sign (as with Benteke).

* He was still always likely to continue to do his best playing-wise (the same might be true of Benteke for all I know, but his past behaviour suggests this is a riskier proposition).

* He was at a club that was at least challenging for top 4 and had finished in the top 4 whilst he was there.

 

Of course Villa have every right to stick out for £25m (or whatever the figure is) and every right to say no to lower offers, if that's what you choose. But I don't believe another club will offer more than Spurs, or not at least another club that Benteke is willing to sign for.

 

And it's all very well saying that he's worth £30m (or whatever), or citing the freak money that Andy Carroll was signed for by Liverpool, but the real world of transfers doesn't usually work like that .... or not unless there are several very wealthy clubs competing against each other, or one very wealthy club who are desperate to sign a particular player.

 

Neither club will want a protracted wrangle: Spurs not least because we won't want to risk wasting the summer in a fruitless pursuit. So I believe Spurs will make their best offer and a deadline for Villa's response. And Villa may in any case do the same.

 

So if Villa think it'd be better to force him to stay  rather than to accept £19m (the "for argument's sake" max figure IMO) and be able to move on with clear water ahead into the rest of the summer window - then obviously that's your perogative. Personally I think it'd be a mistake, but then I'm not an unbiased spectator.

 

And who knows, you could keep him and then be able to sell him next summer for more than the notional £19m Spurs offer. But with one year less on his contract this would seem unlikely ... unless he plays very well for you again this time around.

[AshVilla]

He ain't going anywhere on the cheap, that's the only certain thing.

I had a mooch around some of them London club sites, and its quite surprising how badly his transfer request has been viewed, and it hasn't gone unnoticed that his agents approach too loyalty is somewhat dubious.

If the people who hold the purse strings at Spuds, Chelski, Arse etc. are the same as the fans, his agent may have got this badly wrong.

 

It were only a few months the agent was slamming the sun when they were reporting claims about him wanting away didn't he go as far as calling them false and disgusting

 

The bloke probably wipes his own backside with 50 pound notes 

 

£££

Edited July 9, 2013 by AshVilla

[Meath_Villan]

Fact is he used villa as a stepping stone for a move to a top four team ... we thought we were going to build a team around him ...thats life I suppose in the game time to move on 

Edited July 9, 2013 by Meath_Villan

[Mantis]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mantis what are you on? I mean where have i stated that we should 'get inferior players just so they won't perform really well and then leave after a good season or two?'

 

 

We can also sign good experienced players as a base in which we can then build our youth around. We did it too much under O'Neil and not enough under Lambert so we have never really had a decent balance between both and if we continue to base our transfer policy on mainly youth then due to our present standing in football at the moment if those youthful players progress then they will be off in the same way as Benteke.

 

I have no doubt that if Lowton and Westwood have another good season then they will be cherry picked too so the vicious circle continues of buying and selling while we stagnate because we simply can't offer even the glimmer of european football at the moment.

 

Thats what i meant by 'rich financially and poor on success.'

 

 

Thing is, if a player comes in and performs like Benteke did last season then you will always have bigger clubs after him.

 

I think you're misinterpreting Lambert's approach. It isn't about deliberately buying prospects with the intention of selling them on at a higher price in the future. Clearly the club would prefer to keep Benteke.

 

........................Christain Bentekke walks into a bar..........

...has one drink and walks straight back out again

 

No i'm not misinterpreting Lambert's approach at all and i know he wants to build something here but its the economics of the situation we are in.

 

Team who have over the last three seasons flirted with relegation. Club chairman who is more interested in wage structure than the investment needed to push us on. (Lack of investment in January very nearly rebounded on us). Lack of investment could also be construed as lack of ambition by players and agents alike. Manager trying to restructure the club on a limited budget with youthful inexperience which could also be seen by players and agents as trying to do the impossible in a league run and based on investment which equates to continual lack of success.

 

Which equates to players continually wanting to leave and not giving us the chance to build a team which has enough quality to challenge for the success that will actually keep the quality players at the club.

 

 

And yet even when Lerner was spending big and we were pushing for top 4 our best player (Barry) still wanted to leave. It's naive to think that Benteke's leaving because Lambert's buying inexperienced players or because we had a relegation scare. It's principally about wages.

 

Just what is it that you would like to see (realistically) happen at Villa exactly?

 

 

'Principally about wages.' How do you know this?

 

I've answered your last question a million times on here so no need to do it again.

 

 

Because that's what it's normally about. On the flip side, how do you know that it's about all the things you mentioned?

 

I don't recall ever asking you what you would like to see happen at Villa.

 

You've just made a statement Mantis saying that the reason Benteke is leaving is due to wages. The fact is no-one knows why he is leaving and there are more reasons than just wages for players leaving clubs.

 

 

And you made a statement implying that Benteke leaving was at least partially down to supposed lack of investment and Lambert's transfer policy.

[villa4europe]

you sound just like levy glaston

 

the press will drive it more than the player or either club IMO if you look at leandro damiao (if the interest is ever real) spurs make a cheap offer, internacional say no, it goes all quiet, spurs raise the offer slightly and internacional say no again

 

problem we have is the rags wont let this one go quiet, expecting a LOT of bullshit in the red tops over the coming weeks

 

we've said that he's worth £25m to us which might be higher than his market value but since when did PL transfers go on market value, he's put i a transfer request and waivered his money, dont see how either party can be any fairer, fully expecting spurs and levy to come along and be absolute words removed trying to get a bargain and villa somehow getting all the negativity from it

[AshVilla]

My take on all this:

 

Benteke wants to sign for Spurs. This is partly because he doesn't want to risk spending lots of time on the bench at somewhere like Chelsea. But Spurs are never going to offer £25m (far less more than that). My guess would be that we might offer £19m, at the very most, and even that would break our transfer record.

 

For argument's sake, let's say the offer was £19m, which is £11m more than you paid for him, or so I gather.

 

Villa would then have a very difficult choice IMO - regardless of those of you will say that a flat rejection should be automatic and easy. Because if the answer is "no", then you end up without £19m (and £11m profit), plus a very unhappy player who is likely to be a disruptive influence within the club. Yes, players who want to leave can be forced to stay. We did that with Modric for a year, but the difference (compared to Benteke) was:

 

* He was on much higher wages already - i.e. without needing to sign a new contract to get them, a new contract that he was not willing to sign (as with Benteke).

* He was still always likely to continue to do his best playing-wise (the same might be true of Benteke for all I know, but his past behaviour suggests this is a riskier proposition).

* He was at a club that was at least challenging for top 4 and had finished in the top 4 whilst he was there.

 

Of course Villa have every right to stick out for £25m (or whatever the figure is) and every right to say no to lower offers, if that's what you choose. But I don't believe another club will offer more than Spurs, or not at least another club that Benteke is willing to sign for.

 

And it's all very well saying that he's worth £30m (or whatever), or citing the freak money that Andy Carroll was signed for by Liverpool, but the real world of transfers doesn't usually work like that .... or not unless there are several very wealthy clubs competing against each other, or one very wealthy club who are desperate to sign a particular player.

 

Neither club will want a protracted wrangle: Spurs not least because we won't want to risk wasting the summer in a fruitless pursuit. So I believe Spurs will make their best offer and a deadline for Villa's response. And Villa may in any case do the same.

 

So if Villa think it'd be better to force him to stay  rather than to accept £19m (the "for argument's sake" max figure IMO) and be able to move on with clear water ahead into the rest of the summer window - then obviously that's your perogative. Personally I think it'd be a mistake, but then I'm not an unbiased spectator.

 

And who knows, you could keep him and then be able to sell him next summer for more than the notional £19m Spurs offer. But with one year less on his contract this would seem unlikely ... unless he plays very well for you again this time around.

 

If you want him i think you better hurry up and bid

 

The club have already said in a statement that if he's not sold within a certain time frame to a club that meets the valuation he will remain a villa player

 

If Levy expects to come in on deadline day with an 18 mill bid and get his man he's crazy

[DeHavilland]

My take on all this:

Benteke wants to sign for Spurs. This is partly because he doesn't want to risk spending lots of time on the bench at somewhere like Chelsea. But Spurs are never going to offer £25m (far less more than that). My guess would be that we might offer £19m, at the very most, and even that would break our transfer record.

For argument's sake, let's say the offer was £19m, which is £11m more than you paid for him, or so I gather.

Villa would then have a very difficult choice IMO - regardless of those of you will say that a flat rejection should be automatic and easy. Because if the answer is "no", then you end up without £19m (and £11m profit), plus a very unhappy player who is likely to be a disruptive influence within the club. Yes, players who want to leave can be forced to stay. We did that with Modric for a year, but the difference (compared to Benteke) was:

* He was on much higher wages already - i.e. without needing to sign a new contract to get them, a new contract that he was not willing to sign (as with Benteke).

* He was still always likely to continue to do his best playing-wise (the same might be true of Benteke for all I know, but his past behaviour suggests this is a riskier proposition).

* He was at a club that was at least challenging for top 4 and had finished in the top 4 whilst he was there.

Of course Villa have every right to stick out for £25m (or whatever the figure is) and every right to say no to lower offers, if that's what you choose. But I don't believe another club will offer more than Spurs, or not at least another club that Benteke is willing to sign for.

And it's all very well saying that he's worth £30m (or whatever), or citing the freak money that Andy Carroll was signed for by Liverpool, but the real world of transfers doesn't usually work like that .... or not unless there are several very wealthy clubs competing against each other, or one very wealthy club who are desperate to sign a particular player.

Neither club will want a protracted wrangle: Spurs not least because we won't want to risk wasting the summer in a fruitless pursuit. So I believe Spurs will make their best offer and a deadline for Villa's response. And Villa may in any case do the same.

So if Villa think it'd be better to force him to stay rather than to accept £19m (the "for argument's sake" max figure IMO) and be able to move on with clear water ahead into the rest of the summer window - then obviously that's your perogative. Personally I think it'd be a mistake, but then I'm not an unbiased spectator.

And who knows, you could keep him and then be able to sell him next summer for more than the notional £19m Spurs offer. But with one year less on his contract this would seem unlikely ... unless he plays very well for you again this time around.

[villa-revolution]

My take on all this:

 

Benteke wants to sign for Spurs. This is partly because he doesn't want to risk spending lots of time on the bench at somewhere like Chelsea. But Spurs are never going to offer £25m (far less more than that). My guess would be that we might offer £19m, at the very most, and even that would break our transfer record.

 

For argument's sake, let's say the offer was £19m, which is £11m more than you paid for him, or so I gather.

 

Villa would then have a very difficult choice IMO - regardless of those of you will say that a flat rejection should be automatic and easy. Because if the answer is "no", then you end up without £19m (and £11m profit), plus a very unhappy player who is likely to be a disruptive influence within the club. Yes, players who want to leave can be forced to stay. We did that with Modric for a year, but the difference (compared to Benteke) was:

 

* He was on much higher wages already - i.e. without needing to sign a new contract to get them, a new contract that he was not willing to sign (as with Benteke).

* He was still always likely to continue to do his best playing-wise (the same might be true of Benteke for all I know, but his past behaviour suggests this is a riskier proposition).

* He was at a club that was at least challenging for top 4 and had finished in the top 4 whilst he was there.

 

Of course Villa have every right to stick out for £25m (or whatever the figure is) and every right to say no to lower offers, if that's what you choose. But I don't believe another club will offer more than Spurs, or not at least another club that Benteke is willing to sign for.

 

And it's all very well saying that he's worth £30m (or whatever), or citing the freak money that Andy Carroll was signed for by Liverpool, but the real world of transfers doesn't usually work like that .... or not unless there are several very wealthy clubs competing against each other, or one very wealthy club who are desperate to sign a particular player.

 

Neither club will want a protracted wrangle: Spurs not least because we won't want to risk wasting the summer in a fruitless pursuit. So I believe Spurs will make their best offer and a deadline for Villa's response. And Villa may in any case do the same.

 

So if Villa think it'd be better to force him to stay  rather than to accept £19m (the "for argument's sake" max figure IMO) and be able to move on with clear water ahead into the rest of the summer window - then obviously that's your perogative. Personally I think it'd be a mistake, but then I'm not an unbiased spectator.

 

And who knows, you could keep him and then be able to sell him next summer for more than the notional £19m Spurs offer. But with one year less on his contract this would seem unlikely ... unless he plays very well for you again this time around.

 

We won't be selling for £19M. The real vultures will just use Spurs as a stalking horse to see what we are prepared to take as a minimum offer & then we will see how it develops. I still think Benteke & his agent knows where he his heading & that for someone it's a `Done Deal.`

 

Why else would Benteke hand in a transfer request? 

[DeHavilland]

I think you may be right about you not paying more than £19m - but I am just as convinced that we won't sell at that, does that mean he isn't going anywhere?

Edited July 9, 2013 by DeHavilland

[KSV]

Its quite clear PL knows Tottenham tapped him up and he wants to go there hence the statement pay before this date at our price or **** off. Tottenham have given us some shit player for high prices of late (Hutton and Jenas loan). If he doesn't want to goto Chelsea as it will hamper his World Cup place.. well whats he going to do if we reject Tottenham? He will stay here and play his arse off if he cares that much about World Cup.

 

At the end of the world Cup Tottenham fans will be having a similar thread when hes handed in  transfer request to go to Chelsea/Man Utd.

 

Hes a rocket polisher. I hope we agree a fee to a club he doesn't want to goto.

[LockStockVilla]

If it's true that Arsenal really bid 30 million for Suarez, I can imagine Benteke is a player of interest to Wenger and he could afford him. If Spurs don't want to pay the stated fee, they can piss off and another club will. 

[villa-revolution]

If it's true that Arsenal really bid 30 million for Suarez, I can imagine Benteke is a player of interest to Wenger and he could afford him. If Spurs don't want to pay the stated fee, they can piss off and another club will. 

 

& spuds fans would be well pissed off to be shafted by Le Arse once again!

[Ikantcpell]

Why would he want to go to tottenham ??

 

If he gonna leave he might aswell join a club where he might win something..

 

If he goes i think it will be to chelsea.

[KjParton]

He wants Spurs because he thinks he has a better chance of starting games there, which is correct. 

[switters]

If Spurs are the only club making serious bid then it will be long, protracted thing. but Spurs always seem to have a lot of friends in the media, so I wouldn't necessarily believe reports that they are club Benteke is hoping for. If more than one club is after him, then we are in a good position as it should hurry things up and force the price up. Spurs won't be able to waste time trying to foist off their rejects on us in part exchange or come in late with a cut-price bid if we already have solid bid from someone else

[dnmacf]

I think we should pay more attention to Arsenal. They are in just as much need of a goal scorer and have failed to sign a star striker the past few seasons much to the annoyance of their supporters. They've shown they have money to spend (30m Suarez bid) and Benteke would fit in well as he is French speaking, not only this but he has voiced an interest in playing for them in the past as a dream club and they are playing champions league football next season which must also be a draw for Christian. 

 

We'll see. Either way, listening to PL's stance, I don't think we're going to get a bad deal. Sure, would have been great if he had stayed another season but I have more than enough confidence in PL and the direction the club are finally building towards to not feel so down beat as to loosing our best players, the previous 4 seasons.