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Christian Benteke has revealed how he confronted Tim Sherwood after the manager questioned a move to Liverpool.

In today's Mirror the new £35million Liverpool forward explains why he took exception to being dismissed as a battering-ram striker and reveals why he left Villa Park.

He insists he left Aston Villa because he grew frustrated at being pigeon-holed as an old-fashioned centre-forward who can’t play any other way.

Those comments, when Sherwood insisted Benteke shouldn’t join the Reds because they don’t provide crosses backfired spectacularly, with the Belgian marching into his then-manager’s office to put him right and explain he wanted to play a more expansive game.

Sherwood had claimed: “There’s no point going to a club where they don’t cross the ball.”

But the 24-year-old said: “I don’t believe that and I told him - I spoke with him and I explained to him the situation.

“I said football has changed and football now is modern and I can adapt.

"It is not just about crossing, I can score normal goals, too. I told him I am not afraid about it.

"If Liverpool bought me, then they know how to use me.

“Is that aspect of my game overlooked? I think so - that is why I came here and I can show I can play with my feet, too.”

The Mirror writes that Benteke is now a man on a mission for Liverpool — and also to prove a point to Sherwood.

He believes Sherwood took too much credit for “transforming” him last season into a goal machine who saved the Villans' Premier League status.

Benteke’s 11 goals in the run-in after bagging just three goals in the first half of the season followed Sherwood’s February arrival at Villa Park.

But the 24-year-old had been finding his way back to form after an Achilles injury that kept him out of the World Cup finals, and says: “People don’t understand. It was a bit frustrating. It was like I had never been injured.

“He came in at a good time, at a time when I was getting fit and getting better, so it was like a good time for both of us. The right time for him and for me.

“Okay, he helped me a lot, but I had been injured for a long time and I was getting back to what I could do. It was just a question of time.

“With [Sherwood's predecessor] Paul Lambert it was hard because I had just come back and had to help the team. We were struggling, and when Tim came I was feeling better than before.”

Benteke will make his Liverpool debut this weekend, when he travels to Stoke with new team-mates who will be looking towards him to help erase the pain of a trouncing there on the final day of last season.

(Image: Neville Williams/Getty)

In fact, it is clear they will be looking to him to deliver a huge amount this season after his transfer, but far from fearing such pressure, the striker believes he will be energised by the challenge — and far from needing Sherwood’s “crosses”, he is confident he’ll thrive at a club playing less directly.

He added: "I believe whatever level I play at I will score goals.

“I think the pressure will bring the best out of me. There was pressure at Aston Villa – a different pressure – but I scored goals. It is the pressure to be at the top and with Villa it was the pressure of not to go down.

“I knew if I joined a big club I would have some pressure, so I am ready for this challenge.”

According to Sherwood, the move is a risk because “going to bigger and better clubs, they don’t actually play, so then they end up looking for a new home again”, but Benteke sees it differently — thanks to a message from his friend and countryman, Chelsea midfielder Eden Hazard.

“Eden sent me a text message. He is happy for me. He said now I have a chance to win and to beat him," revealed Benteke.

“I think we have a chance [to catch champions Chelsea, who finished 25 points ahead of Liverpool last season]. We have a good squad. It is up to us now to show them.”

You suspect he may just want to show Sherwood, too.

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