Aston Villa finds themselves among the Premier League elite under the shrewd leadership of Unai Emery.
Ten years ago, however, the reality was very different. In February 2015, Tim Sherwood replaced Paul Lambert in the dugout following a dismal few months.
Sherwood led the club to safety at the end of the 2014/15 campaign, and hopes were high heading into the summer transfer window.
Aston Villa’s transfer business under Tim Sherwood
The manager spent millions in the transfer market to bolster his first-team squad. In came Jordan Ayew, Adama Traore, Rudy Gestede, and Idrissa Gueye, among a handful of others.
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Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast’s Where Are They Now series.
Hardly the players the Villa faithful were expecting, but it was the first team stars which Sherwood sold that took up most of the headlines.
Indeed, Fabian Delph joined Manchester City for a fee in the region of £8m, coming just a week after pledging his future to the Midlands side.
Andreas Weimann was another to depart, yet it was the sale of Christian Benteke which hampered Villa’s hopes of a top-half finish during the upcoming season.
The Belgian had scored 15 goals the previous season, but a £32.5m bid from top-flight rivals Liverpool was too good to turn down.
Over the years, Benteke has continued to score aplenty for two different teams and, at the ripe old age of 34, the striker ranks among one of the world’s best in one key area…
Christian Benteke’s stats for D.C. United
Following his spells at Anfield and at Crystal Palace, Benteke sought pastures new and moved to the MLS, joining D.C. United in 2022.
It has proven to be a wise decision for the centre-forward, who has gone on to find the back of the net 40 times across just 74 matches for the club.
|
Christian Benteke’s career statistics |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Club |
Games |
Goals |
Assists |
|
Crystal Palace |
177 |
37 |
11 |
|
Aston Villa |
101 |
49 |
12 |
|
D.C. United |
74 |
40 |
8 |
|
Genk |
51 |
21 |
12 |
|
Liverpool |
42 |
10 |
6 |
|
Kortrijk |
37 |
16 |
9 |
|
Standard Liege |
25 |
3 |
3 |
|
Mechelen |
20 |
7 |
1 |
|
Via Transfermarkt |
|||
The former Villa star even finished top of the scoring charts for the 2024 season, finishing ahead of Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez.
Previously described as a “beast” by U23 scout Antonio Mango during his prolific spell in the Midlands, Benteke is showing no signs of slowing down in the more relaxed atmosphere of the MLS.
According to the CIES Football Observatory, Benteke now ranks second across 67 leagues for aerial duels won, finishing in the top 3% across players who play in a similar position.
His aerial ability has always been a main strength, scoring 32 of his Premier League goals with his head, indicating how important he was at corners and set pieces.
It is evident that the veteran frontman is still going strong and with a contract at his current side until 2025, he has another year in the MLS to continue his impressive scoring streak.
Perhaps Villa sold him too soon, but there is no doubt Benteke is still a wonderful centre-forward, as indicated by featuring as one of the best in the world in terms of winning aerial duels.
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