Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke has not been the same since he left Aston Villa in 2015 and now he won’t be going to the World Cup.
Christian Benteke might have been under the illusion that his season could not get any worse.
The Crystal Palace striker netted just three times in 30 games during a torrid 2017/18 campaign, his lowest goal tally for a single season since his early days back in Belgium a decade ago. And, just to rub salt into the wounds, Benteke has now been cut from his country’s World Cup squad with just over a week remaining until the finals in Russia.
And Aston Villa supporters have once again used this as an opportunity to point out that Benteke has not quite been the same since he jumped ship for Liverpool.
The Belgian was a huge hit at Villa Park, scoring an impressive 49 goals in 101 games between 2012 and 2015 before an ill-fated move to Anfield, where he never really fit in.
And, despite notching 17 times in his debut season for Palace, Benteke has not looked like the powerful, prolific centre-forward who became one of the most feared marksmen in England during his time in the Midlands.
The Standard states that Palace are now willing to listen to offers for Benteke, who cost them around £30 million two summers ago. A return to Villa Park looks impossible after Steve Bruce’s side missed out on promotion, but maybe Benteke should never have left in the first place.
Who knows, maybe the decline that saw Villa plummet into the Championship would not have happened had Benteke spurned Liverpool’s advances three years back.
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