Christian Benteke

[maqroll]

yep, if clubs want him bad enough, they'll pay

[GENTLEMAN]

I am staggered that people still buy into this fallacy about the dream move to Liverpool Football Club, especially to an extent that Villa supporters are vehemently defending this myth. It really does baffle me. Moving to Liverpool screams of a side-step (potentially backwards) transfer for Benny.

 

"Suarez did alright when they built the team around him" - That is a fine example, but it ignores the talent who did not make progress at Liverpool after being bought for hefty fees. Stewart Downing and Andy Carroll were both left on the scrap heap with broken promises before moving to West Ham. I am sure they were both given assurances about their key role in the Liverpool team. They were sold a false dream, a dangerous fantasy, which is being promoted on this thread by one or two posters. Benteke deserves so much better than that.

 

In many people's eyes Liverpool are a massive club with a huge profile, possessing an enormous fan base around the globe, but this is totally irrelevant when everything is considered. If those aforementioned factors mattered, Liverpool would be in the FA Cup Final on the 30th of May, they would have won the league last year. Furthermore, this could also be a negative aspect of a transfer to Liverpool - the intense pressure and unrealistic expectations could hindered Benteke's chances of producing the form he is capable of.

 

It is fair to state that moving to Liverpool has hampered many auspicious careers, certainly outweighing the odd exception of success such as Suarez. For this reason, I believe it is extremely unlikely that they will build their team around CB - sadly there is a greater chance of CB wasting away at that club, it is painful even to imagine. However, Aston Villa will build a team around him and can help him make the progression to stardom, because we have done exactly that over the last three years through thick and thin. I have no doubt, CB can thrive more than ever with us in the coming seasons. There is security and a prosperous future here for him, whilst he is still developing as a player. 

 

The more serious questions regarding a move should pertain to Benteke's development and future, not whether Liverpool sell an abundance of shirts in China and Australia, or league standings over the last five years. Those are petty and insignificant. For example, would this move jeopardise Benteke's place for Belgium in the Euros? Would Benteke settle at a new club? Would Benteke be assured of a regular starting place?

 

If Benteke wants excessive wealth and a boost to his ego then joining Liverpool will provide that perfectly. However, if he wants to play consistently and develop properly as a footballer staying with us offers him this opportunity. Benny make the right and sensible choice, stay here.

Edited May 20, 2015 by GENTLEMAN

[P3te]

Who mentioned dream move? You're the only one who said that. It's a step up in the table and in terms of visibility, and it's only a stepping stone for him if he goes there.

Villa to a top team is a massive jump, villa to Liverpool isn't as big a gap and it would potentially make sense for him to move there as a seque

If he goes to Liverpool he's starting ecry single game, just like he does at villa. Notbsure why you think moving there will stop his development, because it won't. He'll play as much, he's more likely to challenge the top end and he'll get far more and exposure to top clubs

Edited May 20, 2015 by P3te

[P3te]

And you reckon the pressure of a move to Liverpool could be too much, so you think he should move to a bigger club instead? You're contradicting your own nonsense

[SeanO]

Liverpool in the 70's were a top club, now though they are an also ran. They are where we were at under O'Neal fighting to break into CL but not quite good enough.

 

Are they a step up from Villa though? As much as it hurts I'd have to say that yes it would be but not by much. They will pay big wages in an attempt to make CL which might be Benteke's motive if he wanted to go there because they aren't going to win much anytime soon so it can't be for footballing reasons.

 

If a club payed serious money (40m+) then I'm happy for him to go but for his career it should be either one of the top 4 or a top European club as I believe he's that good. We were very lucky that he joined us when he did but when he goes he needs to aim higher than Liverpool if he wants to show just how good he is.

 

Personally I want him to stay but I'm realistic enough to know that like Liverpool we aren't a CL club so it's more than likely he will go, what we need is to get as much money to invest in the squad as possible.

[lexicon]

In that case, £50mil should be the asking price.

 

Exactly - you don't start at the price you're willing to sell at, do you?

[Jimzk5]

I couldn't give a toss who he moves on too tbh so long as we rinse the pockets of whoever buys him.

Id want considerably more than the £28million Everton paid for lukaku.

[Fight Like Lions]

I can't see him at Liverpool. He'd be going for money and no other reason. Rodgers position isn't stable and he'd be arriving knowing Sterling had been sold (only way they could afford him). You look at the rest of that squad and with the exception of Coutinho and possibly Can if he's played in the right position there's not enough quality there for a serious challenge for Champions League football.

If Arsenal come knocking we should be worried. That's his dream move and with Sanchez playing the free role number 10 he'd be the main man upfront. They got it wrong with Welbeck and Giroud isn't consistent enough. Benteke could see them challenging Chelsea for the title next season.

[BleedClaretAndBlue]

If Arsenal had Benteke and a better center back pairing i think theyd win the league

[Butterfingers]

I don't want to sell him at any price. We are potentially on the brink of something good here. The last thing we want is to lose our best striker and replace him with an inferior version. What price for that £30million? No chance.

I don't get the problem with holding on for another year and selling then. It worked with Ashley Young for example. A lot can happen in 12 months. How would we lose out by keeping him? All we would do with the money is buy inferior players. Its not as though the transfer fee would go towards balancing the books-The books have been balanced.

Sterling being quoted at £40million. This places Benteke in the £50million bracket in my eyes.

[Stevo985]

We wouldn't lose out and I don't think anyone is saying we will.

 

The only thing people are saying (myself included) is that if you are purely looking at maximising the money we would get for him, then this summer is the best time to sell him.

 

But I think pretty much all of us would rather we didn't sell him regardless of that.

[Wainy316]

Yeah definitely.  I don't trust the full amount to be reinvested anyway.

[dn1982]

There has been rumours and nothing else! No one has made a bid all you've got is mainly made up by the press. Sturridge is injured and Liverpool need a striker who's playing well at the minute? Benteke. One thing under Lerner we haven't sold anyone unless it's been to our benefit. If we are going to speculate about Liverpool then you can speculate about all

The other clubs that have been mentioned and then add in virtually every other club as he's good enough IMO to play for anyone. I prefer to think that we'll be bought out and have enough money to compete so why would he leave some where he loves if we can match his ambition!

[PaulC]

If Arsenal had Benteke and a better center back pairing i think theyd win the league

 

You could be right but wenger loves Giroud and I don't see them playing together. They have a good cb partnership in the making once he intergrates grabriel in the team. 

[Villarocker]

If the big man goes anywhere I reckon it will be to Man Utd as they will be looking for firepower once RVP moves on. He could easily partner a free-roaming Rooney up front and they would have the money to afford him too. In Valencia and Young they also have the wide players to get the crosses into the beast.

 

Hopefully, Benteke will stay at the Villa and help us become bigger and better but I fear that he will leave this summer and we will be left with another case of one step forward two steps back.

[roonst83]

Is there any realistic hope that we wont be selling him this summer? Or am I dreaming?

[PauloBarnesi]

Liverpool in the 70's were a top club, now though they are an also ran. They are where we were at under O'Neal fighting to break into CL but not quite good enough.

 

Are they a step up from Villa though? As much as it hurts I'd have to say that yes it would be but not by much. They will pay big wages in an attempt to make CL which might be Benteke's motive if he wanted to go there because they aren't going to win much anytime soon so it can't be for footballing reasons.

 

If a club payed serious money (40m+) then I'm happy for him to go but for his career it should be either one of the top 4 or a top European club as I believe he's that good. We were very lucky that he joined us when he did but when he goes he needs to aim higher than Liverpool if he wants to show just how good he is.

 

Personally I want him to stay but I'm realistic enough to know that like Liverpool we aren't a CL club so it's more than likely he will go, what we need is to get as much money to invest in the squad as possible.

Yep they were over by the 80s; won the league six times, FA cup twice, European Cup twice, League cup four times... 

[gharperr]

If Arsenal had Benteke and a better center back pairing i think theyd win the league

benteke really isnt that much of an upgrade to giroud as a whole. And giroud > benteke in the way arsenal play/need someone like giroud up front. In fact, i think he would look *terrible* in an arsenal team and possibly make them worse.

United/liverpool will be the only english teams that could be interested in him. He isnt worth it/good enough for the other top teams. We would prob sell at 30m imo

Edited May 20, 2015 by gharperr

[Earl the Pearl]

I hate to say it but I think he'll be off to United in the summer. They're in desperate need of proven Premier League scorers and the money won't be an issue.

 

With that being said, I think we'll receive about £35m and if we can invest that into a few quality players at key positions (ST, LB, CB), I think we'll be alright. The key IMO is to spend any money that is received for Beneteke on two or three players at most. Liverpool and Spurs spread out the money that they received for selling their star player and look where that's gotten them.

[jackbauer24]

As much as he's been a good player for us, weirdly I'm very pragmatic about him leaving and won't be gutted in the slightest. He has an almost mercenary feel to him, I don't feel like fans have that bond to him - Delph isn't a local boy but feels more part of the club. Not sure I'm making sense...! I feel like there was a lot more hero worship for the likes of Carew than there is for him, despite him being the better striker.

 

So sell him for profit, reinvest in the team. If we could get £30-40m for him and reinvest that in to something like Austin for £15-20m I'd be more than happy. Austin too is quite young, has scored a ton of goals for a poor team and would suit out style of play. And then there is automatically £10-20m to strengthen the defence and maybe another midfielder. We could improve the team and make a profit this summer!

 

We couldn't afford to lose Delph. We'd be silly to have let Grealish slip away. I think we'd be better focusing on trying to keep Cleverely now. But Benteke, as good as he is, we CAN afford to let him go for the figures banded around and move on as a team.