Is This Liverpool Striker, The Missing Link In West Ham’s Path Towards Champions League Places?

Ever since his big money move to Liverpool, Benteke hasn’t been able to produce the same form that he had produced in the last season for Aston Villa. Before his £32.5m move to Liverpool, Benteke plyed his trade in the EPL with Aston Villa from 2012-2015. He had joined Villa on a four year deal from Belgian side Genk.

The current Liverpool striker seems to be on and off in the starting 11 and there are a lot of rumours going around which state that West Ham United want the services of the player from next season. Will he be a good fit at West Ham next season? I personally feel he’ll be a great player for the Hammers and might go on and have his best Premier League season in the upcoming one.

Let us look at a few factors which tell us why the Belgian can be a successful addition to the West Ham side.

Proven track record:

Benteke has been an amazing player wherever he has gone. Before joining Villa, he had netted 19 goals in 37 appearances for Genk. Upon joining them, he had the time of his life in his very first season. He scored on his debut and scored all throughout the season to help Villa avoid relegation. He scored a massive 23 goals in his first season and became a favourite of then manager Paul Lambert. For his outstanding performances, he was nominated for PFA young player of the season but lost it to Gareth Bale. He had a brilliant start to the second season as well but was unfortunately injured in the match against Norwich City and on his return he was out of form for a certain run of games but eventually regained his confidence and was amongst goals again. Even though he is not started in most of the games in his current season with Liverpool, he has still netted 7 goals in 25 appearances and has registered 2 assists to his name.

With an injury prone Andy Carroll in attack it’s about time West Ham start looking for another prolific striker. On his day, Carroll is absolute class for West Ham but he has a very bitter sweet love affair with injuries and Benteke can be the striker that provides West Ham a more regularly available attacker.

Big match Player:

Benteke loves scoring against big teams and in big matches. Whenever a tough challenge approaches him, he just steps up his game. He scored on his premier league debut. In his first season, he scored 2 goals against Liverpool at Anfield, 2 goals against Everton and also got his first hat-trick against Sunderland at home. In his second season he scored a brace over Malaga in the pre-season. He scored 2 goals against Arsenal away at Emirates and one goal in the home fixture as well, scored a goal against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, scored a goal against Liverpool too. In his third season, he scored a superb goal against Manchester United at home and earned Villa a point. The Belgian also scored against Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final and helped Villa reach the finals after 15 years. His form towards the second half of the season ensured Villa to make a great escape and avoid relegation.

With such big match performances to his name, he can be a perfect addition to Slaven Bilic’s side. West Ham have looked dominant this season and are almost about to knock on the door for the Champions League qualifiers. Benteke and West Ham can very well be a match made dominate the Premier League for coming seasons.

The missing link:

Andy Carroll has made 19 appearances this season and netted 4 goals. Enner Valencia has made 14 appearances and scored 4 goals. Daifra Sakho has made 15 appearances and also has scored 4 goals. Even though Benteke is not having an amazing season this year, he has still managed to outscore all three of West Ham’s strikers. He is also younger than all three of them and at 25 years of age, still has a long way to go in the Premier League. If Benteke would have got a number of starts under his belt this season, one can only imagine what could have happened to his form. His fellow teammate Samuel Mignolet has already said that Benteke is an amazing player and hasn’t been able to impress much this season because he is mostly on the bench. Even Alan Shearer has criticised Jurgen Klopp for the same.

Benteke might be the player that gives Bilic the added boost. He can be the one who forms a lethal partnership with Payet and dominates the Premier League next season. Bilic’s style of management is one in which Benteke looks like a player that can excel brilliantly. He just might be the missing link in this West Ham side that may guide them to greater achievements in the following season.