Benteke can kick and scream all he wants but Villa WON'T sell him for a penny below £25m... Lerner won't let them



I cannot claim to know Randy Lerner well.



Despite having covered Aston Villa since the day the billionaire bought it from Doug Ellis seven years ago, we have met but a few times.



Normally, at his press briefings which, before the Alex McLeish debacle, took place on an annual basis.

Departing? Christian Benteke has made no secret of his desire to leave Aston Villa

There was a time in Reykjavic, Iceland, where we spent a few minutes chatting.



But apart from that I haven't spent too much time in his company. No-one in the media has, to the best of my knowledge.



It's not the way he rolls.



However, I do speak to people that know Mr Lerner. If I need to know what he thinks, I can get through to him.



But I do have first-hand experience of his work. I have watched the manner in which he has run his football club since 2006.

Private? Villa boss Randy Lerner keeps his cards close to his chest

And I can tell you one thing for an absolute stone-cold certainty.



If Lerner says Christian Benteke isn't going to leave Aston Villa for a penny less than £25m, then he won't.



Tottenham, the player, his agent and Uncle Tom Cobley can try as they might - but if they think they can engineer a move away from Lerner's club - Daniel Levy had better think again.



The price is £25m - and if Spurs' chairman offers that - Benteke will leave.



But Lerner is bloody-minded enough to play any game that Eris Kismet, the player's agent, fancies starting.



And Benteke's former teacher has just rolled the dice by instructing his client to hand in a transfer request.

Difficult: Daniel Levy's negotiating skills are notorious

Bear in mind at this stage, Lerner is a bloke who was told not to bother renovating the famous Holte pub. That he would never see a return on his £4m investment.



No matter. He wanted it done. He wanted it done as a gesture.



So, he went ahead and did it anyway.



He was told not to bother chasing McLeish by pretty much everyone.



He did it.



With regards to players agitating to get away, he has previous in this respect. He stood firm when Liverpool, then of the Champions League, were chasing Gareth Barry.

Resolute: Lerner refused to sell Gareth Barry despite pressure from Everton

Villa told us the price they wanted for their midfielder - £18m. It wasn't met.



Despite Rafa Benitez's best efforts, it didn't happen. Barry returned, his reputation slightly tarnished by the episode.



Moreover, before the erstwhile New York lawyer became Villa's owner, there was a tale doing the rounds from when he was in charge of Cleveland Browns.



The American was upset over the manner in which a local radio station covered an issue involving his family.



Result? He withdrew his sponsorship. It cost the radio station hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising revenue.

Instant impact: Benteke was last season among Villa's best players

(At this juncture, I'm not getting into an argument over media ethics, I'm trying to make a point.)



Villa remain relaxed about the situation. In fact, there is a feeling that Benteke and his agent have played right into the club's hands.



Faulkner attended a meeting with Benteke once the season had finished, offering - in principle - a pay rise.



There was a condition - that the player added an extra year to his agreement with them.



With three seasons left, Villa weren't about to hand over a massive pay hike to the 22-year-old just because a striker they had bought in as a relative unknown had enjoyed a very good season.



Why should they?

Big asset: And Benteke should command a fee of £25m

And now Benteke - who, incredibly, spent five days in Turkey with his agent on holiday - has asked to leave.



It has ticked all the boxes as far as the club is concerned.



They have made a move to keep him and now they are cast firmly in the role of the good guys.



We have seen that manager Paul Lambert is certainly bloody-minded enough to court controversy - his alienation of several senior players is evidence of that.



But his assertion that anyone who wants to leave can find the exit door, pronto, has been shown up to be about as water-tight as Villa's defence.

You see, Lambert will make an exception for 23-goal-a-season strikers.

(And, of course, he's right to do so - just don't say it in the first place.)

Bloody minded? Paul Lambert had been building a good team at Villa

As for Benteke, what's he to do?



Throw a strop? Not bother training? Withdraw his labour?



In one sense Villa are fortunate because the whole landscape of this would change were it not for the fact that Belgium are more than likely going to be heading to the World Cup next year.



They have an embarrassment of riches in the striking department at present - and Benteke is hot-to-trot.



But were he not then Romelu Lukaku might be offered his place. The qualifiers in Group A start again in two months' time.



By not playing, Benteke risks all of that.



It's likely he will be welcomed back into the Villa fold if he keeps his head down and gets on with it.

International rival: Romelu Lukaku, like Benteke, is a Belgium international

However, if there is a constant drip-feed of agitation, the picture will change.



At this stage, Benteke doesn't really have too many options. For once, the club holds the whip hand.



If he refuses to play, he jeopardises the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to Brazil with a team that has half-a-chance of doing something in South America.



If he refuses to play, Lambert will also sideline him. And the manager will have Lerner's backing. And that of the Holte End, now, too.



Villa don't want any players that Tottenham deem surplus, either, so that's a non-starter. An exception could be made for that bloke...whasisname? Bale?

Swap deal? The prospect of Gareth Bale ending up at Villa is unthinkable

Lerner has instructed chief executive Paul Faulkner to issue the message that Villa won't be bullied into selling Benteke.



Which, given past evidence, does mean exactly that.



So, Christian, what's it to be?



Better get your head down, son.

