Tottenham seemed to spend large swathes of the last transfer window chasing after Aston Villa’s Christian Benteke. In the end, they signed just about everybody in world football, apart from the big Belgian.
Having sold Gareth Bale for an outrageous sum of money to Real Madrid, Andre Villas Boas was able to re-invest a lot of the money into his squad. That he did, as top players like Paulinho, Roberto Soldado and Erik Lamela were drafted in.
Unfortunately, Benteke didn’t end up on Spurs’ list of incoming transfers. Instead, he signed a new four-year deal with Villa, that would see him earn £40k-a-week.
Now that the fear that he may suffer from second season syndrome has faded away (he already has five goals this year), I think it’s clear that he should be on a higher salary. The man is one of the best strikers currently playing in the Premier League.
On that logic, he should also probably be at a bigger club (no offense Aston Villa fans, I just don’t see you challenging for a Champions League slot anytime soon).
This brings me to The Star‘s claim that Tottenham are planning to offer £28m for Christian Benteke during the January transfer window.
My first reaction to this news is that this sum will probably not be enough to tempt Paul Lambert into selling. Benteke is just too important and too integral to his future plans. Spurs will have to crack the £30m mark and then some.
But I am excited to see Tottenham continue to chase players who could have a major impact on their first team. Yes, they’ve spent a lot of money recently, but if they’re to secure Champions League football on a regular basis, it may be necessary to spend a little more.
After all, it’s clear enough that Spurs don’t have enough strikers. Roberto Soldado is taking some time to adapt to the Premier League (though his goal against Villa was impressive). Jermaine Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor seem to be on their way out.
Benteke would be a marked improvement on all three players. If Tottenham can afford to splash the cash one last time, let’s hope they do it.
What’s your take? Can Tottenham afford to compete for Christian Benteke? Do they need another striker to crack the top four?
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Dream on – he wil be sold after the World Cup and the spuds will need to fork out 40 mill plus if indeed spurs are big enough for him!