Aston Villa's Christian Benteke wanted by Atletico Madrid as £20m replacement for Radamel Falcao
Aston Villa's Christian Benteke wanted by Atletico Madrid as £20m replacement for Radamel Falcao
Spaniards are poised to sell their Colombian striker to Monaco and the young Belgian is the first name on their hit-list
Rain in Spain? Atletico would rather sign Benteke than Liverpool's Luis Suarez
PA
Atletico Madrid are ready to test Aston Villa's resolve to keep Christian Benteke with a stunning £20million bid.
The Spanish giants are confident of landing the striker after sounding out his agent, Kismet Eris.
Atletico
have money to burn after striking a £50m deal with big-spending French
side Monaco to sell them Colombian goal-machine Radamel Falcao.
They
have looked at Liverpool's Luis Suarez, Hulk of Zenit St Petersburg,
Alvaro Negredo of Sevilla and Manchester United's Javier Hernandez, but
Atletico coach Diego Simeone has singled out Belgium international
Benteke as his No1 target.
After scouting the Villans' new hero in the flesh and watching DVDs of him in action, Simeone has urged the club's board to get the 22-year-old.
Chief
executive Miguel Angel Gil Marin has been charged with trying to set up
a deal, and it is believed he is confident of sit-down with Eris this
week.
It will be a major worry for Villa, especially after Benteke last week told a Belgian newspaper he may insist on going if a big club comes in.
Benteke said: "If Aston Villa say I must stay, I won't
necessarily accept that. I do not in any way want to feel I didn't get
the most out of my career."
Villa got Benteke for a bargain £8m
from Genk last summer and Paul Lambert will be determined not to sell
after a sensational debut season in which his 19 Premier League goals
kept them safe from relegation.
Arsenal and Tottenham have also
been looking at Benteke, but Atletico are clearly hoping their new
financial clout could help them steal an early march on other interested
clubs.
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