Palace’s anticipated record signing favourite to score 11-15
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With a passed medical all that stands between Christian Benteke and his unveiling as Crystal Palace’s record signing, Ladbrokes have quoted some specials on how the season might pan out for the Belgian striker should the deal go through.
We make it a 10/1 chance Benteke nets 0-5 Premier League goals, while 13/8 says he registers 5-10 over the course.
The favourite goal line will probably please goals-starved Palace fans no end, with 1/1 suggesting the big man grabs 11-15 league strikes over his debut campaign in south London.
Finally, 6/1 says the Liverpool misfit has a similar impact to that he did when arriving at Aston Villa in 2012 (where he scored 19 top-flight goals) by bagging 16+ times for Palace by the end of 2016/17.
Having fallen out of favour as soon as Jurgen Klopp took the Liverpool reins last October, a summer sale became inevitable and, after protracted negotiations it seems the clubs have agreed an initial fee of £27m.
As the size of the transfer fee suggests, Alan Pardew and the Eagles will expect to extract plenty for their mammoth outlay.
The Belgian netted a modest nine Premier League goals for the Reds in 29 appearances last season, though his campaign was blighted by niggling injuries and plenty of time warming the bench.
At Villa he hit double figures in the English top flight in all three seasons, though the last two saw a succession of long-term injuries, including a ruptured Achilles tendon, prevent him from making more than 29 league appearances in either 2013/14 or ’14/15.
The spectre of injuries, plus the fact Palace are the lowest Premier League scorers in 2016, will have some punters believing the 10/1 on 0-5 may actually be the price to plump for.
On average though, Benteke is at least a 10 goals per season striker and he will also be the main man at Selhurst Park.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
