Aston Villa WILL offer star-striker new deal
Aston Villa chief-executive Tom Fox has confirmed that the club will be offering star-striker Christian Benteke a new contract over the Summer.
The Belgium international still has two years left on his current deal at Villa Park, but with a release clause of £32.4million, some Premier League clubs are plotting a Summer bid for the hit-man.
Benteke has been strongly linked with Liverpool, as well as Manchester United and Chelsea, so the club are desperate to try and remove the release clause, or at least make it a larger amount.
Speaking in a recent interview, Fox admitted that the club won’t prevent Benteke from leaving if he pleases, but has also assured Villa fans that a new deal will be tabled.
Chief Exec Speaks
“If Christian wanted to leave, would we stand in his way? It’s very difficult to make a blanket statement about a player wanting to leave,” said Fox.
“There has been a lot of speculation and I’m not going to contribute to it or play any of our transfer strategy out in the press.
“But we will offer Christian Benteke a new deal this summer, of course we will.”
The 24-year-old netted 15 goals last season, with 13 of them coming under Tim Sherwood, and Fox is hopeful that he will follow Fabian Delph‘s footsteps by signing a new deal at Villa Park.
The club-captain signed a new four-year deal earlier in the year and Fox wants Benteke to do the same.
Fox Hoping Benteke Signs
“Every player has individual aspirations and the relationship they have with the club is different,” added Fox.
“Look at what happened with the re-signing of Fabian Delph, no-one would have thought that was possible or even something he should have done and yet he did it.
“It’s about the individual and the relationship he has with the club.”
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt
