With the departure of Fabian Delph to Manchester City for £8M and Liverpool breaking Christian Benteke’s hefty release clause of £32.5M, Tim Sherwood’s Villa side are falling apart, but has Benteke’s move to Anfield, which hasn’t been confirmed yet, had an influence on the former Villa captain’s City switch?
According to the Daily Telegraph, Christian Benteke’s potential move to Merseyside was part of the reason Fabian Delph performed a sensational u-turn and signed for Manchester City a week after the deal looked seemingly dead after the England International pledged his loyalty to Villa. But why?
Although Tim Sherwood ensured Premier League football for the Villan’s 2015/16 campaign, it’s difficult to deny that the 4-0 thrashing to Arsenal in the FA Cup Final was an anticlimax to the season, and heads will have dropped in the Villa dressing room. This may have caused Benteke to look elsewhere to play football, and with Fabian Delph being arguably Villa’s best player alongside Benteke, the strikers big money move may have encouraged Delph to seek Champions League football.
A few days ago Delph’s departure was looking extremely likely until he suddenly turned around and announced that he was staying at Villa. It was all looking well and good for Villa fans as they were going to keep their captain for next season, but since the rumoured departure of Benteke, Delph’s initial move to Manchester was reignited and confirmed today, and you just can’t help but think that the potential departure of Benteke has a small part in his sensational u-turn.
