Been ill the last couple days. Meant to write up something brief about Benteke as I saw that breaking last night, but conked out with the laptop next to me in bed.
You’ve all done quite well covering the bases without me, so not sure what to say, but here goes.
I’m not necessarily shocked overall, but I am a bit disgusted he slapped in a transfer request after seemingly making nice noises.
I thought a parting would be a bit more gentlemanly, letting Villa have a chance to get full value.The talk coming out of Villa Park sound reasonable, and I’m in agreement about Villa sticking to their guns over our valuation of him. None of us thought he’d be here more than another season.
As we were all well aware, though, his willingness to force a move out of Genk was likely a reliable indicator of future behavior, and we’ve seen it proven true.
I’m sure Bent’s having a chuckle.
I would imagine Lambert would get the full amount of any fee to work with given the increased TV money. I’m not really sure where we stand on balancing things out, but I don’t think there’s a need to claw back money from this deal to make up for the Bent deal.
I think what Lambert and Lerner have to do, if they haven’t already, and I would think they have, is game this out cold-bloodedly.
To my mind, you either have to go spend now to get a replacement to have better choices without necessarily being held to ransom (ie, no one else knows what we’re going to get for him or if he’ll even go at the moment), or you have to try and set a deadline. You have to get in front and stay in control, set the tone and the terms and make it clear you’re not screwing around.
Naturally, other sides, knowing what they think they’re getting, will be willing to play this out til the end of the window to gain some leverage. But it doesn’t help Villa holding out that long if we don’t have a replacement lined up.
I like the idea of £30m if you’re going to poach a player with three years left on his contract. Whether it fits the legal definition, this has all been tapping up of the clearest sort. Whether Lambert and Lerner will hold out for that much I can’t say. But if it’s Spurs calling, I’d want a big chunk of that Bale money. If it’s Chelsea, we all know they’ve got it. Same with anyone else being touted.
We should profit from this big-time. Or sit him. He’s not on high wages and he’ll have to play and perform if he wants to feature in the World Cup. Villa ought to have the leverage here. It’s dog eat dog.
So this should all depend on how Villa, ie Lambert and Lerner, want it to play out.
Normally I might be a little more vexed and full of venom, but I can’t say that anyone is really surprised in the end. This is what football has become. It’s a classless move on Benteke’s part, and Villa should respond accordingly. As the statement said, he’s a Villa player with three years left, and it will cost us sweet FA to sit him unless we get what we want.
This shouldn’t be all about Benteke getting what he wants. While I might be inclined to say I hope he flops, I’ll stop short of that and just say I’d be rather amused if he doesn’t get to star as he would’ve at Villa and spends a frustrating year worried about his World Cup prospects.
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