Man Utd Transfers: 5 Replacements For Wayne Rooney

3. Christian Benteke

Benteke1 Alternatively, maybe the Reds will make a shock bid for Aston Villa's want-away striker Christian Benteke this summer? The young Belgian international stunned his club last week when he handed in a transfer request, putting all of the Premier League's big guns, such as Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United, on alert. The 22-year-old has not travelled for his club's pre-season tour of Germany and will almost certainly be moving on this summer, despite joining the Midlands outfit from Genk just last year. With a whole three years remaining on his current contract, Villa are reluctant to let their star leave, but will accept an offer if it "comes within an appropriate time frame during pre-season which meets our valuation." A move by United for Benteke would come as something of a surprise given Tottenham appear to be his preferred destination, however, the English champions could offer the player something Spurs cannot - Champions League football next season. With a World Cup year coming up, Benteke is keen to impress head coach Marc Wilmots and playing for one of England's biggest clubs in European football's top club competition would do his aspirations to feature in next summer's tournament a world of good.
Contributor
Contributor

Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.