Are Villa Doing Enough To Keep Christian Benteke?

The name of Aston Villa forward Christian Benteke has been mentioned repeatedly in the British media over the last six months, with the player`s future well and truly up in the air. After a scintillating debut campaign in the Premier League, the Belgian forward is reportedly a transfer target for Tottenham and Arsenal, amongst others.

Benteke bagged 19 Premier League goals in his first season in England, a feat that is made all the more impressive given the fact that Villa as a team were struggling. It is understandable that after excelling at Villa Park you would consider the option to try your luck at one of the top teams in the division, and Benteke must be looking at the exit door currently.

For Villa, should Benteke leave the club it would represent a major blow. Darren Bent looks likely to depart also after a frustrating campaign, and as such the club all of a sudden would be very light on attacking options. As such, Villa must resist the multi-millions on offer to sell the Belgian, and do everything they can to keep him in Birmingham.

Benteke hopefully will feel some loyalty to the club that brought him to England from his homeland, and even playing at Villa seems guaranteed a place in the Belgium international team. Villa’s transfer policy this summer may well instill confidence or concern into the forward however. If they spend money and look to invest in the squad it could convince Benteke to stay. If not, he may jump ship.

Initial signings comprise Bulgaria international Aleksandar Tonev, Dutch midfielder Leandro Bacuna from FC Groningen and Denmark international defender Jores Okore. The Club are also believed to be closing in on Danish youngster Nicklas Helenius as well. It is good to see that Paul Lambert is being given the backing to bolster his contingent, however the calibre of players being brought in are still those untested in the Premiership.

Although Villa cannot compete with some of the bigger Premier League clubs for players, they still need to show ambition in the transfer market this summer in order to start pushing to get back to the top ten of the league. If this is shown it could be the saving grace between losing a 20 goal a season striker and keeping him at the club.