Arsenal have been linked with this striker for a long time, almost ever since he first came to the Premier League three years ago from the Belgian club Genk. And once Christian Benteke had revealed that he was a big fan of Arsenal and that he hoped to use his time at Aston Villa to gain a move to a really big club, a lot of us Arsenal fans were hoping that Arsene Wenger would sign him up sooner or later.
Benteke has hurt the Gunners on the pitch a few times, most notably on the opening day of the season in 2013 when his two goals helped Aston Villa turn the game on its head into a painful defeat for us. And even though the season just gone saw the big Belgian struggle for much of it, he did come good for the new manager and show again just what an effective and sometimes unplayable centre forward he can be. It seems to me that he would make perfect competition for Olivier Giroud.
But the Arsenal manager does not seem to agree, because another chance to sign Benteke has presented itself this summer and Wenger has not reacted. According to Metro he is now set to sign for Liverpool after rejecting a transfer to Tottenham (perhaps another sign that he really wants to play for Arsenal).
The only thing holding up his move to Liverpool, according to the report, is that Villa want his full release clause of £32 million. So is it just the price that is putting the Arsenal boss off or does Wenger just not rate Benteke as Arsenal quality?