'Liverpool boss was begged not to sign me but fans still stop to ask about iconic goal'
Christian Benteke’s spell at Liverpool certainly will not go down in club history, although he did produce one spectacular moment that supporters still ask him about to this day.
Liverpool raised eyebrows when they signed Benteke from Aston Villa for $43m (£32.5m/€39m) in the summer of 2015. At the time, he became the club’s second-most expensive signing of all time.
Although he had emerged as one of the Premier League’s top strikers during his three-year spell at Villa Park, and boasted a decent record of 49 goals in 101 appearances for the midlands club, to say the jury was out on Benteke’s signing would be an understatement.
Indeed, even those high up the chain at Anfield were far from convinced. Liverpool’s former director of research Ian Graham recently wrote in his book about how he begged the club’s owners not to sign Benteke.
“Benteke was the epitome of that kind of misunderstanding of style,” Graham told This Is Anfield last month. “Benteke in the right system, in a system that plays to his strengths, is a very effective striker. Our problem was Liverpool didn’t play that system.”
Despite Graham’s protestations, then-manager Brendan Rodgers got his way as Benteke arrived at Anfield – not that Rodgers would stick around long enough for the Belgian to make his mark.
Less than three months after securing the signing he’d fought so hard for, Rodgers was sacked, and with Jurgen Klopp replacing him at the helm, Benteke quickly found himself out of favor. He would score just 10 goals for the club before being offloaded to Crystal Palace after just a year – although not without supplying one moment of pure brilliance.
While his time at Liverpool will not be remembered too fondly, Benteke’s goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford in September 2015 will live long in the memory of supporters. The incredible overhead kick left David de Gea completely helpless as it arrowed into the net, and as he told The Athletic, still causes fans to stop him in the streets.
“This goal,” he said, “it’s more than a goal. When I’m walking down the street, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Manchester United fan, Liverpool fan, any fan in the world — they always stop me for this goal. Like kids, grown ups, any type of people, they always ask me about this goal.”
Having left Crystal Palace in 2022, Benteke now plies his trade for MLS side DC United, and is currently this season’s top scorer in the league, leading the likes of Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi.
Reflecting on his time at Liverpool, Benteke said: “I don’t have any regrets (about my time there),” he says. “I love my story. Knowing from where I came, I love my story. I take everything for a blessing, a lesson to learn. I wouldn’t change anything.”