According to reports from The Daily Star this morning, Aston Villa will offer star striker Christian Benteke a club record-breaking contract to prevent him from joining a major Premier League club this summer.
As This Is Futbol revealed last week, the 24 year-old’s current deal at Villa Park includes a £32.5million release clause which, in combination with a sensational season-ending run of twelve goals in 13 appearances across all competitions, has attracted interest from Liverpool and Manchester United.
Other sources, such as The Daily Mail, have linked him with a move to Arsenal or Premier League champions Chelsea.
But according to reports this morning, the Villains will pull out all the stops to keep their top scorer, who boasts 49 goals in 99 appearances from the last three campaigns, at Villa Park next season.
They will offer the Belgium international the largest contract in the club’s history; a four-year deal at £70k per-week, worth £15million in total. It would also eradicate his £32.5million buy-out fee.
But that will unlikely be enough according to prior reports from The Daily Star. Yesterday they claimed Benteke would demand over double that sum, £150k per-week, from his next club.