19 Aug 2016

Medical Today: Liverpool finally close to sealing transfer for 'wonderful' £27m attacker. Done Deal today?

After months of speculation, the Christian Benteke transfer saga appears to be drawing to a close, and it looks like Crystal Palace have won the race to sign the Belgian striker.

According to the BBC:

"Palace have reached an agreement with Liverpool to sign Benteke* for an initial £27m".

ESPN further claims:

"Benteke has been given permission to undergo a medical after Palace's offer of £27m with £5m in add-ons".

Benteke's medical is reportedly scheduled for today [Friday], and if he's registered in time, he'll probably make his debut against Spurs on Saturday.

I've made my views on Benteke clear many times (and in great detail), so I won't repeat myself here. Suffice to say, Jurgen Klopp - who tried to sign Benteke for Dortmund - simply had no idea how to harness the striker's skillset or get the best out of him.

Instead of motivating, encouraging, and trusting Benteke, Klopp marginalised him; restricted him to piecemeal game-time (thus removing his ability to build rhythm/rapport with his team-mates) and ultimately wasted a £32m asset with a history of scoring/creating goals in the Premier League.

Just imagine if Klopp the faintest clue how to get the best out of Benteke; it's entirely possible that Liverpool might've finished higher than the utter mediocrity of 8th in the league. As John Lennon once said:

"I'm an artist. If you give me a tuba, I'll bring you something out of it".

Klopp may be a top-class manager, who's revered for his man-management skills, but when it comes to Benteke, he's no John Lennon.

That's all Gerolsteiner water under the bridge now, though.

Whatever the reason for Benteke's failure At Anfield, £27m is an excellent piece of business, and will hopefully allow the club to bring a top-class left-back and/or DM before the end of the transfer window.

Good luck, Christian!

* described by ex-Reds boss Brendan Rodgers as a 'wonderful' signing.


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