Sherwood thinks £32.5m for Benteke would be pointless, as Liverpool have proven

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Manchester United look to have joined Liverpool in the race to sign Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke, with the Daily Mail reporting that Louis van Gaal’s side are eyeing up the player’s £32.5m buyout clause.

But Tim Sherwood doesn’t think he could enhance the squad with that kind of money anyway.

“A lot of teams have sold their one player, Gareth Bale, Luis Suarez, and then tried to get the same results by bringing in six or seven. It doesn’t happen, does it?” he began.

“You can take your £32.5m but try and spend it. It’s a tough market out there. Other chairmen would be happy wouldn’t they? If Christian was to go the prices go up, clubs would hold us to ransom.”

SEE MORE:
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United are, like ourselves, searching for a striker to add to their squad this summer. With Louis van Gaal having allowed both Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao to leave the club, several critics have suggested that Benteke would be the perfect man to compliment first choice centre-forward Wayne Rooney (via The Independent).

Our old rivals have regularly proved over the last twelve months that they’re not afraid to throw money around and they might be more willing to meet the player’s extreme asking price than Brendan Rodgers and co.

However, Villa manager Tim Sherwood remains confident that the Belgian could stay put this summer. The 24-year-old, who scored 15 goals in all competitions last season, travelled with the rest of the squad on the team’s pre-season tour of Portugal and the former Tottenham boss is not expecting any Sterling-like strops.

“I don’t think Christian would pull a sulk or anything like that,” said Sherwood. “He knows there’s too much at stake. He respects the club too much. I’m confident that in my mind he’s a huge part of next season. He’s going to be very important for us.

Sherwood also referred to Liverpool, rather than United, by name. He said of our reported interest: “I think Liverpool have shown an interest but there’s not been a bid worth considering. They’ve got six or seven strikers themselves at the moment – they’ve just taken two new ones in as well.

“They’ve got Divock Origi back, they’ve got Danny Ings, the Brazilian boy Roberto Firmino for £29m – they’ve got a few options there.”

Benteke is certainly capable of some special moments, but does he have the consistency…

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