According to reports from Mirror Football this afternoon, star striker Christian Benteke will be offered a new contract at Aston Villa this summer amid copious links with the Premier League’s top clubs.
The Belgium international ended the 2014/15 campaign in a blaze of form, amassing twelve goals in his final 13 appearances across all competitions – including a Premier League hat-trick against Queens Park Rangers.
That, in combination with the recent revelation of the 6 foot 3 front-man’s contract including a £32million release clause, has attracted interest from some of the Premier League’s top clubs, namely Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United – as This Is Futbol revealed last month.
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But Villains chief executive Tom Fox has sought to pour cold water on rumours of an abrupt departure for the 24 year-old, who now boasts 49 goals in 99 appearances for the Birmingham outfit, insisting he’ll be offered an improved contract this summer – that would presumably eradicate his current buy-out fee.
“If Christian wanted to leave, would we stand in his way? It’s very difficult to make a blanket statement about a player wanting to leave,” said Fox.
“There has been a lot of speculation and I’m not going to contribute to it or play any of our transfer strategy out in the press.
“But we will offer Christian Benteke a new deal this summer, of course we will,” he added.