Crystal Palace star looking towards exit even if club avoid relegation

 

If media reports are to be believed, all is not well with Christian Benteke at Crystal Palace. The Belgian striker has never really been one to rock the boat too much, even during his difficult period with Liverpool, and at the very least the rumours seem a little inflated.

Nevertheless, it keeps popping up. Belgium’s DH report on Friday that Benteke is considering leaving Crystal Palace even if the club retain their Premier League status. A recent quarrel with Andros Townsend is brought up as one reason, but much more pressing is the player feeling isolated by Sam Allardyce’s tactics.

Benteke has only scored three goals since Allardyce took over at Crystal Palace, and two of those came against Bolton Wanderers. That’s over 11 matches, in the previous 11 matches Benteke scored 6, all in the Premier League.

If the big striker feels the club’s style no longer suits him then it would be no shock to have some kind of talks over the summer. It makes little sense to have Benteke in the team if he’s not a real goal threat.

Townsend, meanwhile, hasn’t scored for Crystal Palace since September.