Christian Benteke is reportedly close to a move to Liverpool, and it took me by surprise when I noticed a rather negative reaction from some Liverpool fans on twitter to the thought of the Belgian striker leading the line for their team.
Nooo! I don't want Benteke! The money can be spent far far better surely! #LFC
— Dan Rimmer (@dan_rimmer26) July 16, 2015
£32.5M for Benteke, suddenly I am experiencing Andy Carroll flash backs which is giving me just anger and rage #LFC
— Mike A (@porx_79) July 16, 2015
I am not a Liverpool fan. In fact, it would suit me just fine if Benteke never pulled on the red jersey and trotted out for an Anfield debut, but the move makes complete sense to me, and here's why.
Forget the fee. It's 2015, young talent costs big bucks.
£32.5m was as expensive as footballers could come 10-15 years ago, but today? It's four million more pounds than Manchester City paid for Wilfried Bony, a similar type of striker to Benteke, who is a far less significant player for his club than the Belgian would be for Liverpool.
He's proven Premier League quality.
Christian Benteke has 49 goals in 101 appearances from his three seasons in England. That is a fantastic strike rate, and he achieved it playing for Aston Villa. No disrespect to Villa fans, but the team has been completely bereft of creativity, so many of Benteke's goals have been down to him and him alone. He's feeding off scraps and he's producing the goods.
He has absolutely everything you could want from a striker.
He's a freak of an athlete; pace, strength, and the jump of an NBA all-star, he's a clinical finisher who gets goals with both feet and is one of the most accurate headers of a ball around, and he can run the channels or take ball in to feet (or head most regularly). He's a complete forward.
He's young, and has lots of room to improve.
He's 24!
A look at his stats from when Tim Sherwood took over at Villa shows that his potential was not being utilised under Lambert, and he could flourish at a big club if given a proper chance.
He loves a goal against Manchester United.
Easily the best way to endear yourself to the Kop.
Free-kicks? Yeah, go on.
He's Belgian.
Belgians are so 'in' right now in European football. Mignolet doesn't count, but Divock Origi is a promising talent and could help Benteke settle in quickly. Everybody needs a football friend.
His nickname is Bentekkers, for good reason.
Look at that goal. Seriously, look at it. That is the defnitition of a hit-and-hope lump forward, but Benteke man-handles his defender, traps it on the chest, and then a casual overhead kick to finish. Who does that?
He's a complete beast on FIFA.
Right, most people don't care about this but if you're a Liverpool fan who plays FIFA, you're going to benefit from him throwing defenders around and guaranteed headed goals.
You can recycle the Simon Mignolet chant for him.
There are no strikers of similar quality available.
You simply will not find as polished a forward as Christian Benteke who would be willing to come to Liverpool without Champions League football. Gonzalo Higuain is a shout, but he would be a serious risk and would cost more than Benteke. The club badly need a striker to help when Sturridge is inevitably injured, and none of the current crop are good enough. Remove the deadwood, and a Sturridge, Benteke, Ings, Lambert strikeforce looks very promising indeed.
In summary, Benteke is one of the best strikers in the Premier League, he's young, he's a seriously impressive physical specimen, and he want's to play for Liverpool (probably). The only downside to this transfer is the fee, and if you're worrying about fees then you are not going to like where football goes in the next few years.
