The striker could prove to be a key weapon for the Reds after bullying
the club's defenders during his previous meetings with the club, but he
will have a big price tag to justify.
While Mamadou Sakho took selfies hugging koala bears from his hotel
balcony on Thursday evening in Australia, it is conceivable that just
down the hallway, his defensive partner Martin Skrtel was alone, staring
out across the Brisbane skyline with relief washing over him like a
cool wave.
The defender may have known that Liverpool had
finally met Aston Villa's demands for Christian Benteke, thus surely
bringing to an end a transfer story that has run almost as long as
Raheem Sterling's protracted exit from Anfield.
The good news for Skrtel? He would not have to mark Benteke in a competitive match any time soon.
But
then the bad news, the cold realisation: for the foreseeable future,
he'll probably have to confront his bane most days in training at
Melwood.
Liverpool to make £32.5m Benteke bid
When
Benteke faced Liverpool in December 2012 he represented a Tirpitz - a
battleship pummeling the opposition defence and overwhelming every
living species on its course.
Benteke's last blockade was
Skrtel, who, despite possessing a shaven head and numerous
sinister-looking tattoos, was made to look like a determined but novice
boxer up against the Mike Tyson of strikers, who repeatedly put him on
the canvas.
The 24-year-old scored twice that night, with his
second goal of the game making it 3-0 to Villa after just 51 minutes.
The game eventually finished 3-1 and the unforgiving nature his
performance made it feel like the visiting team were always going to
prevail.
In April, more or less the same thing happened:
Liverpool played Villa, although this was in an FA Cup semi-final at
Wembley. Skrtel versus Benteke. The result: Liverpool one, Aston Villa
two – Benteke sliding in Villa's equaliser on an occasion Simon
Mignolet, Liverpool’s goalkeeper, left the field with a bruised tongue
after the striker roughed him up while a corner-kick was being taken.
It
is these encounters that should have defined Skrtel. He is approaching
his eighth full season as a Liverpool player and considering he has been
a constant in an area of the pitch that naturally requires leaders, it
is damning that he was not amongst those considered as Steven Gerrard's
successor as club captain.
Yet it is Brendan Rodgers whose
future will probably be determined by Benteke. While Skrtel last week
signed a new contract that ties his immediate career to Liverpool
despite interest from Inter, Benteke's signing is one that simply has to
be successful if Rodgers is to remain at Anfield.
Benteke is
Rodgers' call. Whereas this time last year, Liverpool's transfer
committee persuaded him it was a good idea to sign Mario Balotelli only
for the Italian to flop, the manager has seemingly convinced those
around him that the Belgium international is worth £32.5 million.
Liverpool
had made their position clear since May: they wanted Benteke – his
recruitment was their primary objective in the transfer market this
summer. Yet they valued him at around the £25m mark. Villa were
co-operative but grew tired of waiting for an acceptable offer.
As
it transpired, all Villa had to do was let it be known publicly that
Manchester United were also supposedly interested in Benteke. Quickly
enough, Liverpool reacted in fear they would again miss out on target
number one and end up overpaying for number two or number three as the
window of opportunity to buy new players became smaller.
We
will soon know whether Benteke possesses the consistency and mental
resilience of a top striker able to deal with the pressures that come
with becoming Liverpool's second most expensive signing in history.
But
there is more to his game than critics say. There is variety in the
type of goals he scores, while rather than thriving from a direct style,
which is certainly not favoured by Rodgers, his most productive periods
under Paul Lambert came when Villa counter-attacked, which was an
outstanding feature of the Rodgers team that went so close to winning
the Premier League title in 2014.
It would be naive to sign
Benteke based solely on his displays against Liverpool. Surely he has
been scouted accordingly and his character vetted. The last time
Liverpool last brought in a striker based on a goalscoring efforts
against them, Andy Carroll was a Newcastle United player and Skrtel was
marking him.
And look how that story ends: with Carroll at West
Ham, Kenny Dalglish – the manager – eventually being sacked. Skrtel,
though, remains. And Benteke is about to be an ally rather than an
enemy.
