Christian Benteke holds a special place in the hearts of many Aston Villa fans. He was the shining light in a very dark time for Villa and near-singlehandedly keep the club in the Premier League for virtually all of Paul Lambert’s reign. His immense talent gave Villa fans hope that, with a team built around him, we could rise up the table and there could be good times ahead. As a result, seeing Benteke playing regularly at Palace evokes a combination of nostalgia and sadness at what might have been for Aston Villa.
Benteke’s had a rough week. He’s been criticised by his manager, fans and pundits. His ego and subsequent penalty miss cost Crystal Palace the chance to beat Bournemouth on Saturday. By Tuesday, newspapers linked Palace with a move for Olivier Giroud and prompted suggestions that Benteke might become available. That has sparked some Villa fans to long for a reunion and call for his return to Villa Park, even on loan, in January.
Honestly, I don’t think Christian Benteke will be coming back to Villa.
There are a few reasons:
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1. Benteke is too good – which means even if he were to be displaced as Palace’s main striker and become available, there are plenty of Premier League clubs who would snap him up: Everton under Big Sam? Burnley under Dyche? Stoke? West Brom under Pardew? Newcastle are desperate for a striker? All could legitimately be interested if he were to become available and all of them would be further up the queue than Villa.
2. There is a World Cup spot to play for – Benteke is still a regular in the Belgium squads and, as an ambitious striker in his prime will be targeting a starring role at the World Cup. To secure his place in a very talented Belgium squad, he needs to be playing regularly in the top flight and scoring goals, so a move into the Championship isn’t in his interest.
3. A loan isn’t in Palace’s interest – Palace are in a relegation battle, and sending a near-£30m striker with a track record of dragging sides out of the mire sounds pretty much like madness to me. Even if he isn’t on form right now, Palace would far rather be patient and hope that he finds his groove again for them than risk him coming into form elsewhere and that not benefitting Palace in a crucial second half of the season.
4. Palace would want to recoup their money – Benteke is Crystal Palace’s record signing at £27m and even given their recent record of apparent incompetence (i.e., the De Boer experiment), it’s hard to imagine them accepting a massive loss on such a valuable asset. Once again, this is a striker in his prime, and they would hope to at the very least recoup their investment if they were to sell him. That’s means an expensive deal even before you account for wages. For Villa, that probably means that it simply might not be possible for us to sign him and stay compliant with Financial Fair Play.
Now, I don’t for a minute think that all of the posts and tweets calling for his return are totally serious, and I can totally understand why fans would dream of his return.
He is, present form accepted, a brilliant striker whose best form came at Villa. You only need to look back on his performance in the FA Cup Semi-Final victory over Liverpool to see how his talent helped lift those around him to help the team perform better as a whole.
The idea of a striker with that kind of impact at Villa feels like a dream come true, particularly at a time when we are in the Championship and facing a shortage of talent up front. Our current first-choice, Jonathan Kodjia, is out for the long-term. Scott Hogan was back in the squad at the weekend after injury, but he is yet to hit his stride at Villa. Our only fit striker is a 19-year-old who, whilst displaying impressive hold-up play, hasn’t proved a menacing goal threat and right now looks like he needs a rest at a crucial time of the season.
Villa will certainly be on the lookout for a striker in January, but a player of Benteke’s class is surely out of reach. I’d love to see it happen too…but I just can’t shake the notion that it’s two-and-two-making-five, and wishful thinking built on rumours that are shaky at best. So, on this occasion, I can’t see Benteke playing for Villa again anytime soon.
Or at least not until we’re back in the Premier League anyway!