Crystal Palace sign Christian Benteke in £32 million Liverpool deal - Twitter reacts

By Sam Leveridge

Crystal Palace have completed a club record breaking deal to sign Belgian forward Christian Benteke from Liverpool for a fee believed to be around £27 million, with a further £5 million included in add-ons, having signed a four-year deal at Selhurst Park.

The 25-year-old shot to fame at Aston Villa, where he averaged 16 goals per season across three years, and led the line superbly for the Villains. That earned him a big money move to Anfield, which did not work out well for him. Signed by Brendan Rodgers, Benteke did not fit the Klopp style of forward that presses high up the field, and so the club allowed him to leave despite scoring 10 times when only completing 90 minutes on 17 occasions.

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The move comes after Alan Pardew identified Benteke as a top priority for the Eagles in this summer’s transfer windows, and when the sale of Yannick Bolasie was confirmed, it was seemingly only a matter of time until the former Genk striker made the move.

It does come with some controversy though, after Pardew labelled Benteke a “cheat” after accusing him of diving to win an injury time penalty which he converted himself to win the tie for Liverpool with the final kick of the game at Selhurst Park.

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It now seems that both parties are over that, and Benteke will spearhead the Palace attack which has been low on numbers since Frazier Campbell picked up an injury and Dwight Gayle left for Newcastle, leaving Connor Wickham with little cover up front.

Benteke will use his physicality and aerial ability to adapt to Palace’s style of play and will return to his preferred battering ram style to give Premier League defender’s nightmares. Having fallen out with Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, he will also be happy to be at a club where he will be relied on as the star and will want to impress from the start, despite having had little match fitness due to his lack of involvement in Liverpool’s pre-season.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to the news:

The club confirmed the deal ahead of their trip to face Tottenham today…

And Benteke also said his thanks to Liverpool and their fans…

Although the big man made an embarrassing mistake on his Twitter profile…

https://twitter.com/unitedsprime/status/766939692117987328

Palace fans were delighted he had signed for them, not Burnley…

https://twitter.com/eaamalyon/status/766339082557517824

https://twitter.com/amieelle/status/766931231426617344

https://twitter.com/deludedbrendan/status/766928898827415552

Although not all of them were so optimistic…

Liverpool fans weren’t too concerned…

And most feel the Reds did well to recoup their fee…

https://twitter.com/jacklusby_/status/766929277690449920

https://twitter.com/ibegottafeeling/status/766928348580876288

https://twitter.com/indigolfc/status/766556186023829504

But fans at Selhurst Park should be excited…

Featured Image: All rights reserved by Craig Ballantyne.