Liverpool forward Christian Benteke turned down a lucrative offer to play in the Chinese Super League during the January transfer window.
According to numerous reports on Tuesday, Benteke had the opportunity to move to China at the start of the year, but declined the offer in order to fight for his place at Anfield – he’s not started a league game since.
The Belgian has proven to be a nightmare signing since his £32.5million transfer from Aston Villa last summer, finding himself now as the fourth choice forward under Jurgen Klopp.
It seems hard to see Benteke having much of a future under Klopp, with the 25-year-old now nothing more than an unused substitute in the majority of matches – his last appearance being form the bench when 6-0 up against Villa.
His last start was away to West Ham in the FA Cup, his last league start was away to West Ham on January 2nd.
Youngster Divock Origi was brought on instead of his Belgium compatriot in Sunday’s League Cup Final defeat to Man City, which says all you need to know about where Klopp sees him in the strikers’ pecking order now.
If Danny Ings were fit, Benteke would be fifth choice.
Despite his troules, the Belgian is still the joint top scorer for the Reds this season – with seven goals. That though perhaps says more about Liverpool’s problems in general.
While Benteke deserves a certain amount of respect for not giving up hope of being a success on Merseyside, it would be a huge surprise if he was still a Liverpool player at the start of next season.
There were doubts about whether he was suited to the Reds’ style of play long before he even joined the club, and those concerns have come to fruition in 2015/16.
He is far from a bad player – just not a Liverpool player.
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