Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast, Tim Sherwood has been discussing his time as the manager of Aston Villa and losing Christian Benteke to Liverpool.
Benteke was, as many will remember, one of Aston Villa’s most important players during the mid-2010s, and his good performances for the Villans caught the attention of Liverpool.
The Reds would eventually sign Benteke in a deal worth £32.5m, but apparently, Sherwood tried his best to talk the Merseyside club out of the deal, reportedly telling Brendan Rodgers that the Belgian wasn’t the right man for him.
Sherwood told Liverpool not to sign Benteke
The ex-Villa boss shared the story of Benteke’s move.
“They decided to get rid of Benteke and he was key for me. He had the buyout clause and Brendan Rodgers rang me up and told me he would take him. I tried to talk him out of it and say how bad Christian was and that he couldn’t do what he wanted to do. Obviously he decided that Christian was his choice,” Sherwood said.
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Should have listened
Sherwood may have been telling Liverpool not to sign Benteke so that he could keep the player, but, in all honesty, they should have listened to him.
Indeed, Benteke really didn’t live up to expectations at Anfield. He struggled to get to grips with the rigours of playing for such a massive club and within 12 months he was shipped out on loan to Crystal Palace.
It’s a shame because Benteke was on his way to becoming an Aston Villa legend, but sadly, one misstep in his career led to the striker failing to reach his potential.
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