Christian Benteke (Aston Villa)
Aston Villa’s Christian Benteke had a fine first season in the Premier League, and at 22 years of age has plenty of time to grow and improve as a player. It is little surprise to see him linked with Arsenal.
His 19 Premier League goals were five more than any Arsenal player managed in the top flight, and he also lived up to the horrible cliche of having a ‘good touch for a big man,’ with his backheel against Liverpool to set up Andreas Weimann’s goal a great example of both his technique, imagination and creativity.
However, Benteke has only had one such successful campaign, and he has not proven that he is anything but a one season wonder yet. As harsh as that sounds, there have been plenty of other players who have struggled similarly after great debut seasons in the Premier League – strikers such as Marcus Stewart or Roque Santa Cruz are typical examples.
Benteke was not thought of particularly highly in Belgium before this season, and a step up to a UEFA Champions League club may come too soon for him this summer.
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