. Liverpool FC and Chelsea FC transfer target Christian Benteke will be offered a new contract at Aston Villa this summer, according to the cluba s chief executive.
Bentekea s current contract has two years more to run and the Aston Villa manager, Tim Sherwood, has revealed it contains a buyout clause thought to be A?32.5m.
Liverpool FC had identified the 24-year-old to help solve their goalscoring issues, but have been put off by suggestions Villa will ask for in excess of A?30m for the Belgian and were biding their time to ensure Villa lower the demands closer to their valuation of the player, somewhere closer to A?20m.
Liverpool FC will now be hoping that Benteke rejects the contract, prompting Villa to seriously considering lower their demand.
Chelsea FC searching for a forward is an open secret, too, with Didier Drogba moving. In recent times, the club have been linked for a move to bring the Belgian to London and fellow countryman Eden Hazard has been very vocal in expressing his happiness with the links.
However, Villa chief executive Tom Fox is confident that the player will sign a new contract:
a We will offer Christian Benteke a new deal this summer, of course we will.a
a If Christian wanted to leave, would we stand in his way? I think to make a blanket statement about a player wanting to leave is very difficult,a Fox said.
a Every player has individual aspirations and the relationship they have with the club is different.”
a Look at what happened with the re-signing of Fabian Delph a no one would have thought that was possible or even something he should have done and yet he did it. So there isna t a rule that would apply to that. Ita s about the individual and the relationship he has with the club.a
Benteke scored 15 times for Aston Villa last season, helping preserve their Premier League status and attracting interest from Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC.
It will be an interesting summer at Villa Park with the clubs eyeing the Belgian who could send a clear message to his suitors should he stall on the contract offer.