Arsenal
Benteke Heading To North London? Or Set For New Villa Deal?
Arsenal and Tottenham are eyeing Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke but the Midlands clubs hope to tie him down to a new contract at Villa Park this summer.
Despite the transfer window being closed there is still plenty of gossip doing the rounds in the newspapers so we’ll keep you up-to-date with the latest transfer rumours. Today, could Arsenal or Spurs lure Christian Benteke away from Aston Villa?
Arsenal and Tottenham are eyeing Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke but the Midlands clubs hope to tie him down to a new contract at Villa Park this summer, according to the Daily Mail.
The 22-year-old Belgian international has enjoyed a sensational debut season in England, scoring 22 goals in his 37 appearances for Villa since making the move from Genk last summer.
A stunning hat-trick on Monday night sealed a 6-1 win over Sunderland for Paul Lambert’s men and boosted their hopes of avoiding the drop this season, with the victory moving Villa up to 16th place in the table and 5 points from the relegation zone.
His impressive form hasn’t gone unnoticed with the Mail claiming Arsenal and Tottenham are both showing an interest in luring him to north London, but boss Lambert is said to be desperate to keep hold of the powerful striker is believed to have approached owner Randy Lerner about the possibility of extending Benteke’s contract to secure his long-term future.
After Monday’s win, Lambert said:
‘I’m sure at the end of the season we’ll sit down with Christian and a few others.’ Lambert is quoted as saying by the Mail
The newspaper suggests Lerner is set to rubber stamp a new one-year extension that would see Benteke’s salary double to £2m a year, and the club hope it will be enough to persuade the 6 foot 3 inch striker to ignore interest from the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham and commit his future to Villa Park.
Of course much of this may depend on Villa staying in the top flight, as Benteke would surely be the first out the door if they were relegated to the Championship next season, and it seems he’d have his pick of north London’s finest to choose from.
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