Benteke rumours: Fiorentina join the hunt for Belgian striker

Fiorentina have joined - by my count of rumors - Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, and Atletico Madrid in the hunt for Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke. The Italian club are prepared to lose striker Stevan Jovetic over the summer and apparently think that Benteke could be a worth replacement.

The latest news comes from Benteke's agent, Eris Kismet. Apparently Fiorentina had scouts at Aston Villa's last few matches of the season, and they were watching Benteke closely. As we've said with nearly every other rumor that has popped up, Benteke would be a good fit for the club. But that's mostly because Benteke would be a good fit pretty much anywhere.

What makes the latest bit of news discouraging is that it's coming from Benteke's agent. To this point, Kismet has been relatively quiet about the kismet of his player. This could be a sign that a move is more likely than we'd like to admit, or it could be posturing. Talks between Benteke and the club are apparently in the works once the striker gets back from a holiday and international duty, so this sort of rumor can only serve to pump up the value for the Belgian.

I'm still hopeful that Benteke will be with the club on September 1, but boy is all of this news making me nervous.