Despite his agent recently stating that Benteke would be staying at Liverpool this season (via Sport Witness), there are still reports floating around linking him with a number of clubs. West Ham and Crystal Palace are the latest teams to be linked with a switch, with both players reportedly missing out on other striker transfer targets, as reported by the Mirror.
As the report suggests, Crystal Palace were targeting Benteke’s Belgian compatriot Michy Batshuayi, while West Ham are after Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette. Batshuayi looks set to join Chelsea this summer, while Lacazette may be out of the Hammers’ reach – with the French side demanding £40m plus for him.
Both teams have apparently turned their attention to Benteke, who is seen as a more affordable and more attainable target. Despite what his agent says the 25-year-old may be keen to secure regular first-team football with a move elsewhere, and a move to West Ham at least wouldn’t be a huge step down. They are obviously nowhere near being as big a club as we are, but they’ve been getting better and better under Slaven Bilic and are now competing for both Europa League and Champions League spots.
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Liverpool transfer news
Benteke doesn’t really seem like he has a future at Anfield, so if we can secure a sizeable fee for him and recoup most of – or even make a profit on – the £32.5m we spent to bring him in from Aston Villa (via the Mirror), then it could be a great bit of business.