Aston Villa have enjoyed some success in the transfer window under Unai Emery as he looks to build a side which can be regular top-six challengers in the Premier League.
So far so good for the Spaniard as his side are currently sitting in fourth place in the table, two points ahead of Tottenham Hotspur and if they can maintain this sort of form into the closing weeks of the campaign, they will have an excellent shot of securing Champions League football next term.
Emery spent big during the summer transfer window prior to the 2023/24 season, luring the likes of Moussa Diaby and Pau Torres to the Midlands, but they both could prove to be wonderful signings.
The former Paris Saint-Germain boss has also managed to clear out some deadwood too, moving on various players since last January.
Danny Ings was sold for £15m in 2023, while Cameron Archer cost Sheffield United a transfer fee of £18.5m last summer and Emery clearly put those funds into much better use.
Although Emery has done well in the transfer market, both in terms of incomings and outgoings, he is not the only Villa manager to have enjoyed some success.
Indeed, Tim Sherwood also played a blinder with one of Villa’s players back in the summer of 2015, as he sold Christian Benteke for nearly five times as much as the club signed him for.
How much Aston Villa paid to sign Christian Benteke
Prior to the 2012/13 season, Paul Lambert was looking to bolster his attacking options at the Villa Park club and Benteke was earmarked as a main target.
He got his man for a transfer fee in the region of £7m and lauded the striker upon his arrival, saying:
"Christian is only but already he's an established Belgian international and he's had a terrific time at Genk. He's something very different to what we have here and that added dimension will enhance the football club.
"A young lad he may be, but he's definitely a handful. He's tall, powerful, he has pace and we'll be stronger with him in the side."
Over the next three full seasons, the former Genk forward emerged as one of the best attackers in the top flight.
Christian Benteke’s Aston Villa statistics
His debut season ended up being a huge success. Benteke scored a staggering 19 goals in just 34 league matches – adding another four in the League Cup – and he found the back of the net against the likes of Liverpool, Everton and Chelsea during the campaign.
Despite a strong opening few weeks when the striker netted twice against Arsenal along with grabbing goals against Chelsea and Newcastle United, he would only add another six league goals to his tally throughout the remaining months of the season, although an Achilles tendon rupture would end his campaign prematurely.
177
37
101
49
51
20
42
10
41
15
37
16
25
3
20
7
He returned to form during the 2014/15 season, scoring 13 league goals and this attracted attention from Liverpool, who were looking to improve on a dreadful season.
How much Aston Villa sold Benteke for
Brendan Rodgers eventually managed to lure the centre-forward to Anfield, but it would cost him a fee of £32.5m, which meant Villa and Sherwood sold the player for £25.5m more than what was paid for him just three years previously.
“I’m very happy to be here and I would like to thank the owners, Ian [Ayre, chief executive] and of course the manager for their massive effort to bring me here,” said Benteke in his first interview at the Reds.
“I think it was the right club for me because I had a good chat with the manager and I wanted to be part of his project.”
Unfortunately, his time on Merseyside failed to live up to such high expectations as he played just 42 games for the club, scoring only ten goals, and the move proved to be a major waste of funds by Rodgers.
He soon joined Crystal Palace after only one season in the North West of England, yet despite scoring 37 goals across six seasons, Villa arguably got the better end of the deal as they sold the player at exactly the right time for the maximum fee possible.
Christian Benteke's return form in the MLS
Hailed as “unstoppable” by Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola during his first season in charge of the club, Benteke has always been a clinical finisher in the opposition penalty area, but after six seasons in London, he was on the move in 2022.
The 33-year-old ended up moving to America and joining MLS side D.C. United midway through the 2022 season, where he scored just once in seven matches, hardly a figure which warranted much hype.
During his first full season, however, Benteke suddenly found the form that he displayed during his time at Villa, scoring 14 goals and grabbing three assists in just 31 league matches.
Among his teammates stateside, Benteke ranked first in the squad for overall Sofascore rating (7.31), while also ranking first for goals and assists (17) and shots on target per game (1.3), proving that he was highly efficient in front of goal.
When compared to positional peers in the men’s next 14 competitions over the previous 365 days, Benteke ranks in the top 13% for total shots (3.42) per 90, along with ranking in the top 6% for touches in the opposition box per 90 (6.62) and this indicates that he spends the majority of his time in the penalty area, waiting for chances to be presented to him.
He certainly shows no signs of slowing down, but arguably his best form was during his three-season stint at Villa between 2012 and 2015.
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Selling him for such a lavish sum, Sherwood must have had an inkling that the Belgian frontman might struggle at Anfield, especially under the weight of a massive fee, and he was certainly proven correct.
With the MLS season starting in just a few weeks, Benteke will be hoping to replicate the form he displayed throughout 2023 and better his tally of 14 goals.