BENTEKE WORTH £25M

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has praised striker Christian Benteke by saying that he is now worth close to £ 25 million after an impressive debut season in the Premier league. Aston Villa secured the signing of the 22-year-old from the Belgian club Genk in the summer. They paid around £ 7 million for this signature, which is looking like a great bargain after the striker has been able to terrorise defences with his presence on the field. Benteke is currently level with Chelsea striker Demba Ba after having scored 15 goals in the league this season.

Lambert has said that going by the potential transfer values of the players, Benteke could be worth around £ 25 million. Even though Benteke struggled to settle during his initial few months at Chelsea, he has been able to almost single-handedly help Aston Villa get out of the relegation zone. His impressive form has also meant that Darren Bent, who was signed by the club for £ 24 million, has been unable to feature regularly in the first-team.

Benteke has been touted as a potential transfer target for the likes of Tottenham and Chelsea in the summer. However, Lambert has said that he will certainly wait before offering the striker a new contract. Aston Villa have managed three wins in the last five matches.

“He is hot property. If you wanted to prise Christian away from here you would want a sizeable cheque, that is for sure. He has the potential to be fantastic. If you look at modern day figures then £25m is probably a good start. We can’t stop people looking at him but he is under contract here. He is enjoying his football at the moment and doing fantastically well. I will wait until the end of the season and I will sit with people,” said Lambert.