I had been holding off posting for a bit as I felt it might
have been too early to start trying to actively start with contributions to the
page, but I’ve decided to add something just now to pass the time and air my
thoughts on new developments involving Christian Benteke.
Aston Villa’s number 20 has signed a new contract with the
club which should pretty much end the speculation of a move away from Villa
Park for the Belgian striker. The deal runs till 2017 and certainly puts Aston
Villa in a much stronger position for the new season, but I have to admit that
even if he had been sold, I’m sure that they would do much better this season
compared to the last one.
Villa’s reported asking price was around the £25 million
mark, which despite his young age, does seem quite an extravagant price for
someone who has only spent one season in the Premier League. Tottenham Hotspur
were reportedly the favourites to buy him when he handed in his transfer
request earlier in the month, and while I’m sure they could afford it, I couldn’t
see Benteke moving for as much as £25 million, if anything I think it would
have been more between the £14-21 million mark. With that sort of money coming
into Villa, they could have lined up a replacement striker if they wanted to
plus other players and give themselves some real strength in depth at what is
an already large numbered squad. Even if the new striker wasn’t the same type
of striker that Benteke is i.e. a powerhouse who is both strong and quick, it
probably wouldn’t matter to Villa supporters just as long as they could score
as many goals as possible.
Benteke will now get to work with another new striker that
Villa signed this summer, which is Nicklas Helenius. While I’ve not had much of
a chance to see the 22-year-old in action, he does come highly rated after
winning the Danish Superliga Player of the Year award last season and has made
a good start in Villa’s pre-season games so far. The forward had initially
expressed disappointment that Benteke had asked to leave Villa, but will
obviously now be delighted that he has changed his mind and will now get the chance
to work closely with him.
The news about Benteke’s new contract is also likely to push
Darren Bent further out the Villa exit door with Newcastle United and now
reportedly Fulham interested in his striking services. Questions might also be
raised about the futures of younger strikers at the club such as Jordan Bowery
and Nathan Delfouneso who may find opportunities in the Villa first-team
limited this season. But Villa supporters and manager Paul Lambert will
undoubtedly be the happiest with Benteke’s decision to stay. In a Villa side
that lacked real quality at times last season, Benteke was still able to power his
way past defenders and score 19 league goals and help the team avoid
relegation. Now that he is officially staying put, supporters will hope it
inspires the other players to learn the lessons from last season and come back
even stronger this time around.
I shall be back
closer to the start of the new Premier League season to predict exactly how I
think Villa and the other teams will do this time around. I Hope you enjoyed
this piece and if you have any feedback or questions you’d like me to answer
then please leave a comment for me. I’d like to also mention that I have now
begun writing for http://www.swol.co/ so if
you are a fan of my work, there is somewhere else for you to now check it out.
Thanks for reading.
Andrew.
http://www.soccercv.com/articles/latest_news/ < News and Reports by me found here.
http://www.swol.co/profile/show/1390 < News and Reports by me also found here too.
https://twitter.com/ADNU92 < My Twitter, please give me a follow for any and all updates.
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