Benteke is 21, so is Delfouneso

Apologies for the rather uninspiring title of this post, and I don’t mean this as a slight at Delfouneso, rather a look at a player who has already made a big impact in Claret and Blue.

Plenty was written and said when we paid £7 odd million for the big man from Belgium, with some pundits thinking it might be too soon for the player, plenty of fans getting excited about the move and plenty of other football folk wondering who the hell he was. He played 17 or so minutes against Swansea on the weekend, and already looks like he’ll settle in just fine at the Villa and in the Premiership.

Now of course he’s only played one game, and if he hadn’t scored late on then some fans might have been alarmed at his glaring miss and the feelings towards Benteke would be markedly different. Still he took the much harder chance, looked a threat throughout his cameo and linked well with Bent. The fans already love him, as does Barry Bannan judging by his crazily enthusiastic jump into his arms after he scored (loved that by the way!), and rather excitedly it looks like there is lots more to come.

Benteke is a few months older than Delfouneso, but the player just looks ready for the Premiership. The fonz on the other hand doesn’t, and might struggle to get many games for Blackpool. I’m not even sure where I’m going with this post, just feel it shows that some times you have to pay for quality, and that not all of the much heralded group of youngsters we have are going to make it.

Benteke is already part of a very exciting looking Belgium side that could cause some damage in the next however many years, and as mentioned just looks suited for the Premiership. I’ve thought for a while that the Fonz might struggle at Villa, because even though I do think he has some good attributes, he was just never going to get a run of games. He started the game/debacle against Everton, and even though the team were atrocious, the player struggled and was taken off at half time. I’m not writing him off, because a few months ago I was wondering if the end at Villa might be nigh for the aforementioned Bannan, and look at how he has started this season.

It’s going to be tough for him though, because for the first time in a while we have some serious options, and that includes up top. In Bent, Benteke, Agbonlahor and Weimann we have four contrasting strikers, all of whom offer different things. We also have Bowery in that position, but you have to imagine he’s fifth choice at the moment. I actually like the fact that Gabby didn’t get on Saturday. Under Lambert you have to work to get in this team, exactly as it should be.

I hope we push on further against Southampton, and although it promises to be a tough match (despite their bad start to the season), I think we could do alright on the south coast, and I believe we’re taking a sizeable contingent down there.

We now have a very decent squad developing, full of quality young players with the desire to want to do well. Good times.

UTV.