The only good thing about Aston Villa, a shade above the relegation zone, has been the ability of Christian Benteke, their 22 year old striker. He’s been good enough to attract the attention of quite a few of the bigger Premier League clubs, among them Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham.

Benteke has scored 7 goals in 20 matches for Villa this season, which is usually not too impressive for a leading striker, but seeing the way Villa have been playing this season, which almost completely relies on the youngster’s ability to be the target man, offload long balls to other players and keep on moving to finish the play, it’s clear to see that on any other team with a bit more capable midfield, Benteke should be displaying more impressive numbers.

While it’s highly unlikely Aston Villa will be actually thinking about selling the only player keeping them from last place this season, a terrible finish to the season and maybe even being relegated might be enough to trigger a chain of events that will push Benteke out of the club, knowing he isn’t someone who should be playing in the Championship or for a club barely making it to remain in the Premier League.

He might not be as central in the near future while playing for any of the clubs that have titles and a spot in the Champions League on their minds, but being a part of a successful outfit is probably better than having to barely make it every match and each season.

For now, there are now offers, only interested parties, waiting for developments, hoping Randy Lerner continues to be the kind of owner he’s been these past few seasons: Someone who keeps selling his best players when the right kind of offer comes along. Benteke was purchased for £7 million from Genk back in August, and it’s hard to believe anything less than £12-13 million will be enough to bring Benteke, dubbed as the next Didier Drogba in a rush of exaggeration after Villa beat Liverpool in December, to the Reds, Arsenal, Manchester City or Tottenham next summer.

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