Christian Benteke’s reputation as a footballer has fallen a long way in the past 12 months.
He joined Liverpool from Aston Villa for £32.5m (fee according to BBC) in July last year, and he has since gone from being a big fish in a small pond to a fish out of water.
Although Benteke did manage a less-than-awful 10 goals in 42 first-team appearances for the Reds in his first season, he does not seem to be rated at all highly by Jurgen Klopp.
Furthermore, his stock at international level has also lowered – evidenced by the fact he only got 11 minutes of game time in Belgium’s Euro 2016 campaign this summer.
The reality is Benteke needs a move to get his career back on track.
Yet, he could be about to talk his way out of a move to Crystal Palace.
That’s because, according to the Daily Mail, Benteke is asking for a pay increase in order to join Palace, which is ballsy, if not simply baffling.
Although Palace are an ambitious club, they are should not be expected to pay bigger wages than Liverpool.
Pay aside, on the face of it, Palace would be an ideal move for Benteke.
His main problem at Liverpool is that he simply doesn’t suit Klopp’s style. Benteke thrives off crosses – something Liverpool don’t provide enough of to do the 25-year-old justice.
Conversely, Palace are all about the crosses. Their squad is full of wingers – like Andros Townsend, Jason Puncheon, Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha – who could make a player like Benteke one of the Premier League’s most prolific marksmen again.
Palace have already had one bid of £25m rejected by Liverpool, so say the Daily Mail, who claim that the Reds are after £30m plus add-ons.
The newspaper suggest that Liverpool’s demands, coupled with Benteke’s in terms of wages, are making Palace question the potential deal.
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