ARSENAL AND TOTTENHAM SCRAMBLE FOR £25M CHRISTIAN BENTEKE

ABOVE: £25m man Christian Benteke could leave Aston Villa this summer

I hope that if I leave my club a deal can be done more quickly than the one last year

Aston Villa hot-shot Christian Benteke

24th May 2013

By Dave Armitage

CHRISTIAN BENTEKE has sparked a £25m summer scramble by revealing he could leave Aston Villa.

The 22-year-old hitman has admitted he would find it hard to accept if Villa blocked a transfer.

Benteke has whipped up a frenzy with comments made in America while with the Belgian national team.

He is a target for top clubs at home and abroad after 19 goals in his debut Premier League season, with Tottenham, Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund interested.

Villa want to hang on to the man they signed for £7m a year ago, but could find themselves in a scrap.

Boss Paul Lambert is set to sanction a double-your-money£40,000-a-week deal to reward him for his efforts.

But Benteke said: “If Villa say that I have to stay put, I will find it hard to accept. I don’t want to be left with regrets about not getting the most out of my career.

“It’s only normal for there to be transfer rumours about me. I have done my job out on the pitch.”

He added: “There is no point in me getting into a tug-of-war with Villa, and I don’t think there is any need for one.

“If the chance comes up for me to join a big club, I’m convinced we can reach a compromise where everyone comes out a winner.

“I hope that if I leave my club a deal can be done more quickly than the one last year.”

Villa boss Lambert hopes to persuade Benteke that a big move might not be in his best interests with the World Cup just 12 months away.

And Benteke appears to have taken that thinking on board as he prepares for Belgium’s friendly double header with USA in Cleveland and then Serbia in Brussels.

He added: “It could be risky to change clubs a year before the World Cup finals. When a situation arises I will weigh up the pros and cons with my family, as I can’t afford to make a mistake.

“I have asked my agent not to bother me with transfer talk while I am away on Belgium duty.

“It’s now down to him to do his job. I have known him since I was 14, and I have complete confidence in him.”

Agent Eris Kismet later insisted Benteke was not unhappy with life at Villa.

He said: “This always happens when he goes away with the national team. I’d prefer that he didn’t speak to the journalists but the Belgian national team insist he does a press conference.

“If he was unhappy at Villa we would have seen that but he’s not. This is not the first time this has happened.

“Aston Villa fans just have to watch his actions. The trouble is he is a big name now. He will be talking to Villa when he gets back. But he will probably take a holiday first.”