10 Players Who Probably Regret Leaving Aston Villa
3. Christian Benteke
Everyone apart from Liverpool seemed a winner when the Merseyside giants paid Aston Villa over £30m for striker Christian Benteke and it has taken less than a season for that theory to come true
In all fairness to the Belgian international, he has made more appearances from the bench than he has from the starting lineup but a return of eight goals in all competitions does not come close to justifying his transfer fee.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp was patient with him when he replaced Brendan Rodgers but there does not appear a way back for Benteke after scoring no goals from open play in 2016 and falling behind both Daniel Sturridge and Divock Origi in the pecking order.
The million dollar question is what happens next? If he does not feature in Liverpool's plans, then he will want to find another club but what club will be prepared to shell out the desired transfer fee and wages? Liverpool could loan him out but only if they can get Mario Balotelli off the books. Sending both away on a temporary basis would see a lot of money wasted.
Villa would have probably still gone down even with Benteke but he would have far more options available to him had he remained in the West Midlands.