Liverpool would have sold Christian Benteke to Spanish side Valencia this transfer window just gone, but they couldn’t pay the fee Crystal Palace eventually agreed to.
It was obvious the Belgian was surplus to Jurgen Klopp’s requirements, but it took a while to get any exiting deal across the line. It turns out that Valencia director Garcia Pitarch was at Liverpool’s London offices during August in an attempt to thrash out a deal, but his side simply couldn’t meet our demands. This is according to Spanish publication Super Deporte, who interestingly claim Pitarch held discussions for Leicester’s Leonardo Ulloa as well.
As it happened, Benteke went to Alan Pardew’s side for around £32m and has began life in south London very well, in fairness.
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It says an awful lot about the financial state of English football compared to the rest of Europe when an enormous club like Valencia cannot compete with Crystal Palace for a player…
This summer, even the smallest Premier League clubs splashed out tens of millions, aware that with the TV money and parachute payments, it’s a necessity to survive in the most competitive league around.