Klopp wasn’t happy with Benteke during the Southampton defeat last weekend
Darren Lewis in The Mirror this week has revealed that West Ham co-owner David Sullivan is interested in Christian Benteke, and that it is only his astronomical wages that are holding the club back from a summer move.
Sullivan stated, “The problem is he is on such a huge wage that no club can afford him. But he is a player that we admire.”
Benteke is reportedly on £120,000 a week, which isn’t a figure that the West Ham owners are likely to match any time soon. A move could be on the cards, however, if Benteke decides to take a wage cut after a disappointing season at Liverpool.
Sullivan’s interest has come at the same time as Benteke announcing his anger and frustration towards Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp. The Belgian striker joined under Brendan Rodgers but he has spent far more time on the substitutes bench than he would of liked under the new manager, including not coming off the bench in the Capital One Cup final defeat to Manchester City.
According to The Express, Benteke said of his recent spell on the sidelines: “What’s annoying me the most, is that I would have never signed for Liverpool if I wasn’t the manager’s first choice,”
Benteke’s time at Liverpool won’t last much longer if he continues talking about the fans the way he has, stating “If I give a bad pass, I get the feeling that they resent me more than anyone else. It’s hard to play football then relax”. He has more or less blamed the Kop for resenting him after a bad pass, shifting the blame elsewhere rather than on himself.
But would he do a job at West Ham?
Similar to Edin Dzeko in the sense that he is a good goalscorer and would fit in if Andy Carroll left the club. But Liverpool would be looking to recoup a decent amount of the fee they paid for him, and his wages would need to be cut massively to make a move feasible for the club. The difference between him and Dzeko is that Benteke is only 25, so has years ahead of him and hasn’t peaked yet.
Christian Benteke isn’t going to be Jurgen Klopp’s man, and would get double figures in claret and blue with Payet, Lanzini and Antonio behind him. Sullivan is clearly a fan, but he seems a bit fragile. Form seems to come and go throughout a season with confidence and his attitude isn’t great. If we were to pay £20 million for a striker, his attitude would need to be fantastic and Benteke seems to like a sulk and a moan rather than doing what he should doing, getting his head down and working hard.
Against us this season he had so many chances and didn’t take any, he would need to work on his confidence and his attitude before Gold and Sullivan tried to tempt him into a pay cut to join the hammers.
