Incoming Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is apparently keen on making Christian Benteke one of his first signings when he arrives at Stamford Bridge, and we’ve taken a look at exactly why the Italian manager might want to bring the Belgian to London.
As The Times suggests, Conte is looking to drastically change Chelsea’s playing style; introducing the same 3-3-4 formation he’s had such success with as Italy manager. With Conte planning to utilise a two striker system he needs to find a player who compliments and works well with Diego Costa, and he feels Benteke is that player.
While Benteke has been an unmitigated disaster at Liverpool, he’s not necessarily a bad player, he’s just suffering a crisis of confidence in a system that doesn’t suit him. He’s never going to be a Liverpool or a Jurgen Klopp type of player so we’re right to offload him, but that’s not to say he won’t be a success somewhere else.
Conte is apparently planning to deploy two strikers and two wingers, which would almost certainly play to Benteke’s strengths. Whereas we rely on quick counters and fluid attacking moves, Chelsesa under Conte look like they’ll be flooding the box with bodies and crosses.
Benteke isn’t the quickest or the most skillful, but when used as a battering ram his power and aerial dominance can certainly be effective. Not that the two can really be compared, but Benteke certainly boasts similar traits to that of Didier Drogba. With both Costa and Benteke in the box looking to receive crosses they could definitely thrive, and it would obviously be playing to the 25-year-old’s strengths.
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Very few teams play a two striker system effectively anymore, but Chelsea look like they could next season. Benteke would definitely fit into that system, so despite his struggles at Liverpool, it’s not hard to see why Chelsea are interested – especially as they know we’re probably looking to get him off our wage bill.