West Ham United should have signed Christian Benteke ahead of Crystal Palace in the summer according to one Sky Sports pundit.
Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke applauds their fans after the match
The Eagles splashed out £27 million to sign the big Belgian from Liverpool and have not regretted it with Benteke recapturing his Aston Villa form with six goals already this season.
The 25-year-old was a prime Hammers target during the summer as Slaven Bilic was linked with a plethora of strikers from across Europe.
Moves for Alexandre Lacazette and Michy Batshuayi failed as co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold boldly pledged to make a “marquee” striker signing in the region of £30m to get the goals needed to push the Hammers on after a fantastic season which saw them miss out on the Champions League places by just four points.
Benteke was believed to be on the list of targets but the Hammers hesitated while London rivals Palace pounced to secure the Zaire-born target man’s signature.
West Ham United’s Simone Zaza looks dejected
Instead Bilic ended up with hapless Italian striker Simeone Zaza on loan from Juventus as their “marquee” capture.
Zaza has endured a tough start to life in England and is yet to register a shot on target in four games with the Hammers languishing in the bottom three with five defeats from their first six Premier League games – their worst ever start to a season.
Terrible start: Zaza
To add to the pressure for both player and club, the Hammers have an obligation to buy the player for a whopping £25m when he plays 15 games and at this rate he will reach that milestone without a single goal.
Reports are rife that Zaza will be sent back to Juventus in January before playing the requisite number of matches which makes West Ham’s failure to move for Benteke all the more frustrating.
Benteke has got off to a flying start with the Eagles
And after Benteke scored once again in Friday night’s 1-1 draw with Everton at Goodison Park, Sky Sports pundit and Hammers fan Bianca Westwood was rueful.
“Should’ve signed Benteke,” Westwood said.
Palace have enjoyed a good start to the season off the back of Benteke’s goals while West Ham are facing a must-win game today against Middlesbrough.
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