Football pundit and former player Carlton Palmer has been sharing his thoughts on the possibility of West Bromwich Albion signing Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke and what the Belgian would offer the Midlands club.
Speaking exclusively to The Transfer Tavern, Palmer had this to say on the possibility of Benteke moving to The Hawthorns, as has been previously reported by The Guardian.
He said: “Benteke is one of those strikers, he’s only scored three goals this season, but he brings a lot more to the table and maybe in West Brom’s situation, where they’re battling, he can put in a shift up-front, he is good at holding the ball up and he’s good at heading the ball at both ends of the pitch.
“Benteke might be a player who could be useful to West Brom, to help them stay in the league.”
During his time in England, the 30-year-old has made a total of 238 appearances in the Premier League, prior to Palace’s midweek league clash against West Ham United, in which he has managed to score 75 goals and provide 21 assists along the way (per Transfermarkt).
Since joining Crystal Palace back in 2016 from Liverpool for a fee of £28.08 million, the striker, who is currently valued at £8.1 million, has made 129 appearances for Roy Hodgson’s side in which he has managed to score 26 goals and provide 10 assists along the way.
So far this season, Benteke has only managed to score three goals in the Premier League for Palace, as Palmer mentioned, but has earned himself a respectable season rating of 6.74/10 for his performances (per WhoScored).
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TIF Thoughts on Carlton Palmer’s comments about Christian Benteke and a possible WBA move…
In our view, with West Brom sat in the relegation zone of the Premier League table, they need to sign a striker who can come in and score on a regular basis to guide them out of the situation they are currently in, with the likes of Hal Robson-Kanu and Callum Robinson only netting three apiece so far this term.
Whether or not they will take a gamble on that striker being Benteke is yet to be seen, but in our view, the Belgian’s experience in the Premier League – especially under Allardyce – could put him as a sensible option for the Baggies, so you can certainly see where Palmer is coming from.