Christian Benteke: Villa striker 'disgusted' at being misquoted

A report in The Sun on Friday linked the Belgian to just about all of the Premier League's leading clubs, and suggested that he would do everything he could to get away from Villa Park.

But his agent Eris Kismet told Sky Sports that the report was inaccurate and that Benteke was not looking to get in to some kind of war with the club.

Kismet said: "Christian and I are surprised and disgusted by a story in the Sun newspaper claiming Benteke can do what he wants.

"He has been misquoted.

"The true line is that Christian does not want to make a war with Aston Villa.

"He has called me today from New York and he is disgusted, I have told him not to speak to any media from now on."

"If there is interest, which is normal after the season he has had, no way will problems be made by Christian and myself. That is what he said in the interview!

"He's more than happy to stay if he has to stay. But we all know he had a good season and it's normal that maybe other teams are more interested in him, and he might be interested to play European football which is his right.

"If there is a team, a bigger team playing European football next season, that shows interest to Villa concerning Christian, I would be lying if I said Christian would ignore that.

"But at the same time Villa have the right to say whatever is going to happen with Christian next year, and Christian will have his word also because it's his career.

"It's no use with all respect to go to Southampton or Norwich. If he can improve himself in a footballistic way, okay, why not? But it's up to Aston Villa and that supposed team to get an agreement.

"At this moment nothing is happening. Let's wait a week or two and then we will see what can happen."

Misquoted

Benteke had been quoted as saying: "If Aston Villa say I must stay, I won't necessarily accept that. I do not in any way want to feel I didn't get the most out of my career. I try to get everything.

"Of course playing the World Cup in Rio is in my head. But I have no fear of falling out of the team. There is no point in me getting into a tug-of-war with Villa.

"If the chance comes up for me to join a club like Arsenal, I'm convinced we can reach a compromise where everyone comes out a winner."

Villa manager Paul Lambert was unhappy with the initial story and suggested Benteke concentrate on following up his fine first season at the club with another consistent campaign.

"I don't really 100 per cent know what's happened but he's got three years here at Aston Villa and the club have always come first," said Lambert before the denial from Benteke's agent.

"He's had one of those seasons where he's never really been injured and he's never been suspended except the last day.

"It's a unique thing, and he's got to remember that he's only 22 years of age. He's got so much to learn.

"He's only a kid starting out and he's going to have ups and downs like everybody else. Once he starts to play 400 or 500 games you might think, 'yeah, he's a good player'.

"I think sometimes we've got to have a reality check here. This lad's only been in Britain for 10 months. He's got the status at Aston Villa and everybody loves him."