Those on here that seem not to want Benteke and label him a potential "one season wonder" I was wondering what have you seen in his play to suggest that may be the case?
I personally like what I have seen of him with the various ways he has scored his goals, one touch finishes, holding off opponents and firing in, holding off opponents making space for himself and 'passing' the ball into the net, headers with a mixture of placement and power.
Would a price of £20m make less of a chance of being a 'one season wonder' than a £25m player? That's the feeling i'm getting reading on some of these posts.
We won't know if he is a one season wonder or not until next season I guess. Maybe it will be with us, or not. I think anyone who has unwavering belief that he is a one season wonder is a fool, but so is anyone who thinks the total opposite. The truth is usually the most boring but repetitive option in these cases and that is you have a good player, on the top of their form have a great season. This may well be his golden season and he may never aspire to those heights again, especially in a league where he is now a known quantity and playing for a better team where he will no longer have the space or defenders on the back foot already when he receives the ball.
From what I've seen of him, it's too early to judge and therefore, like any purchase, it comes down to a calculated risk and how much that risk is worth. For me the risk of Benteke is worth £15m. Anything more than that and I'd be very sceptical.
I remember last Summer when Spurs fans were talking about us needing Demba Ba or Patinkle Cisse from Saudi Sportswashing Machine. Both good players, but neither significantly superior (if superior at all) to Adebayor or Defoe.
In fact, if you look at the last few seasons for the top 5 goal scorers in the Premiership I see plenty of names that are good players but nothing I would regard as out of this world, and players that did it for only one season (but my word, they WERE brilliant that one season). And then you have a player like Darren Bent who despite being maligned by Spurs fans (somewhat justifiably because other than goals he brought very little to the side) who was a regular in the top 10 goalscoring charts from 05/06 to 10/11.
So in my opinion Benteke is worth a punt at £15m in case he is the next big thing. Anything more than that and its one hell of a risk and not one I'd be comfortable the club taking. Chelsea, Emirates Marketing Project, Man Utd etc. can afford to blow £20m on a flop. We can't. That right now is the fundamental difference. £20m on a flop could set us back two or three seasons. It's a fine line Baldini walks, and I certainly don't envy him in his new job.