4/1 amazing value on Benteke staying at Aston Villa

Christian Benteke may have handed in a transfer request in recent weeks at Aston Villa, but there is a growing feeling that he will remain at the club beyond the summer.

Having previously been 1/1 to still be at Villa Park on September 1st, this price has now drifted to 4/1 amidst links to Tottenham and Chelsea.

However, offers have not been forthcoming from the London pair, with Chelsea seemingly more interested in Wayne Rooney and Spurs unwilling to meet Villa’s demands of approximately £30m.

The latest rumours suggest Spurs have turned their attentions to Valencia’s Roberto Soldado, but as Villa have no urge or need to sell, if this speculation is an attempt to get Paul Lambert to lower his price, it is almost certain to fail.

Lambert’s relationship with Benteke appears to have remained good despite the recent developments and the Belgian has recently completed his first pre-season training programme with the first team after missing their tour of Germany.

Meanwhile, he was said to be fully involved, unlike the list of other players who are expected to leave the club this summer. The group involving Alan Hutton, Stephen Ireland, Barry Bannan and Shay Given have been dubbed ‘The Bomb Squad’.

Villa are unlikely to wait too much longer for an appropriate offer either, theoretically no longer than August 1st, as they would want a suitable period of time to locate and sign a replacement.

This will put pressure on Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, who is not one to typically pay top whack for a transfer target and much may well hinge on the future of Emmanuel Adebayor, who has been linked with a move to Besiktas.

It is 4/7 that Benteke joins Tottenham before the closing of the summer transfer window, with Chelsea 7/2 in this market.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.