It may have taken what seemed like an eternity, but Paul Lambert finally landed the gem in his transfer window crown. It's been confirmed by multiple sources that Christian Benteke has moved from Genk to Aston Villa.
There's been much back and forth on whether landing the Belgian is actually a good deal. I admit to being pretty skeptical when the price was above 10m, particularly since sources in Belgium said that it's way too high for such a raw player. Clubs regularly pay that much for players inside the Premier League, but at least they've got that lauded "Premier League experience". But, once again, I'm willing to put my trust in Lambert -- there's got to be a reason he's got the hots for Benteke.
One of the obvious reasons is that the Villa are in desperate need of reinforcement up top. Gabby Agbonlahor is more fragile than a soap bubble, Andi Weimann is just not proven, Nathan Delfouneso is not likely to ever be more than a substitute, and Jordan Bowery isn't the answer to our prayers. Benteke is likely going to need some work, but if he's the diamond Lambert believes him to be, he'll just need a bit of polish to shine.
But Benteke brings more than just reinforcement; rather, he's a different sort of forward and one that Villa are in desperate need of obtaining. At 6'3" and 180 pounds of nearly pure muscle, Benteke is pure target forward. Of course, the others still need to be able to get him the ball, but at least the Belgian has a better long-range shot than Bent and may actually create a few of his own chances.