Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has hailed the arrival of his Belgian international teammate Christian Benteke at the club.
The Reds stopper is convinced his compatriot will justify the huge £32.5million price-tag having played with and against him the past:
“I’m very pleased that he’s signed,” Mignolet said [via Liverpool Echo].
“We all know that he’s a very good player and it’s another Belgian joining LFC. We had some good duels against each other with Aston Villa. I won’t be challenging him anymore, like I did last season, so that’s nice.”
“He will work hard in training. He’s got the physical presence, the ability to hold the ball up front and play with his back to goal.”
“He will make sure that all the other players we’ve got connect with him, and when he keeps that ball make sure that we can be dangerous on the counter-attack,” Mignolet added.
Benteke’s move to Anfield from Premier League rivals Aston Villa was confirmed on Wednesday night as he became Reds manager Brendan Rodgers’ seventh signing of a busy summer so far, following the arrivals of James Milner, Adam Bogdan, Danny Ings, Joe Gomez, Roberto Firmino and Nathaniel Clyne.
After struggling for goals last season in the aftermath of Luis Suarez’ departure to Barcelona coupled with the multiple injuries suffered by Daniel Sturridge, the club has turned to one of the league’s most potent strikers in order to recapture their threat in attack.
The 25-year-old struck 42 goals in 89 appearances across three seasons with Villa and was on target against the Reds when the two sides met in the FA Cup semi-final last April.
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