As others have said Modric ~refused to play~, if Benteke refuses to play the early season games there is no way I'm going to defend him - But I don't see an issue with handing in a transfer request (nor did I have a problem with Modric handing in a transfer request).
Do you think Benteke will sign for Spurs ? He had a decent season last time around, but I think it would be a gamble taking him on. It looks like he's going to move somewhere though this summer ...
My main recollection of him was missing an absolute sitter against us when it was 0-0 in a game we went on and won. Middle of the goal and a free header that he put wide. I know it's only one moment, but I can't shake the feeling that he will end up being on a par with Darren Bent. Dangerous, but not the player to really lift the spirit.
Would depend on the price. I wouldn't want us to pay any more than say £16m/ £17m (as instalments/ performance related bonuses not a straight up lump sum). I don't value him as a £20m striker YET. Could well be one but I wouldn't want us breaking our transfer record for what could be a one-season wonder.
Benteke, like many other newcomers has had a good first season as an unknown quantity, 2nd time round opposing coaches and defenders will have had time to analyse his game and give him special attention, I'd like to see how he copes with that first before slapping 20m down or anything near that.
Benteke's success last season was partly down to Andi Weimann. When Weimann had a poor game, so did Benteke. When Weimann was on song, Benteke was more or less a world beater (e.g Anfield), their chemistry was unrivalled and single handedly kept Villa up. I'd be amazed if Benteke scored as many goals next season without him.
Apart from being black and playing for Villa I don't see too many similarities. Every player misses chances, even sitters. I've seen more quality goals, showing various aspects of forward play from Benteke in one season than I've seen in the whole of Bent's career. My only concern is if we do buy Benteke then I feel that we have purchased a player who shows personality traits I can't stand in the modern day footballer with his demanding a move after 1 season. What's to say he won't do that to us if he has another good season for us and United or the like came sniffing.
To be fair unless you're looking at world class strikers like van Persie, Falcao etc, very rarely can a striker look great without the help of a partner/ creative team behind them. I'd like to think IF Benteke did join us, we'd be able to provide a lot more opportunities for him to score than Weimann's assists/ running off players to make space for him.
That's a great point. While I'm glad we're not on the receiving end of it this time, we've seen times before where players have shown a complete lack of respect to the club by insisting on moving despite having years left on the contract they bloody signed! I'd welcome the talent of Benteke but I too would be worried that the mentality of Benteke is to use us to engineer a move to Utd/ Bayern/ Barca etc.
Today's unfounded rumour is we've cooled interested in Bernard, not least because he's staying with Mineiro until the Copa Libertadores is finished (although, given they lost the first leg of their semi-final 2-0 they might be out come Wednesday), partly because with Paulinho signed we're well stocked in midfield, and partly because we're looking at strikers. Bernard's agent playing silly buggers might also be a small part of it.
Hasn't Bernard supposedly said he'd prefer a move to Porto anyway? If true I wouldn't want him here then.
I didn't say they were similar players, I just feel he will be similarly disappointing in the long run. But that is only based on a feeling, wasn't presenting it as any kind of thought out hypothesis. And Bent was some player for Charlton early in his career by the way.
No mention of that from Villa fans... http://www.villatalk.com/index.php/...ns-contract-extension-a-real-boost-for-villa/ ...in fact the player suggests its the other way round, when Benteke plays well he brings Weimann into the game http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/TV/LiveInterview/0,,10265~3016769,00.html
I don't think it's much of a gamble, he's well suited to Premier League football and showed on a number of occasions that, despite thinking Villa were in London(!), he has a good football brain on him and good technique, which is what we need from our strikers. It all depends on Aston Villa, they could pull a Levy and it will all get very messy, in which case I hope we move on. So far as targets go, though, I think he's the most certain to come up good for us, the likes of Soldado, Bony and Villa, they're the gambles. The latter would've been a great gamble to take though at such a small fee and with such a high reputation in the game.
