Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke set for end-of-season talks, wants to stay


Crystal Palace pushed themselves further away from relegation in style with a rout of Leicester City.
Crystal Palace pushed themselves further away from relegation in style with a rout of Leicester City.
Crystal Palace pushed themselves further away from relegation in style with a rout of Leicester City.

Christian Benteke will discuss his future with Crystal Palace at the end of the season.

The Belgian striker, Palace’s £27 million club-record signing, has endured a frustrating campaign in which only his third goal came in Saturday’s 5-0 victory over Leicester City.

Palace spent £9m recruiting the promising Alexander Sorloth in January, but Benteke, 27, remains committed to the club where he has a contract for a further two years.

He scored from the spot after regular penalty-taker Luka Milivojevic, following boss Roy Hodgson’s suggestion, stepped aside when they led 4-0 to give him the chance to end his goal drought.

“I’m under contract until 2020, so I want to stay here,” Benteke said. “I’m going to speak to the chairman [Steve Parish] and the club about what they want to do with me.

“At the end of every season you have to speak, to see the plan for the next season [and] to see what they want to do with me. They saw the best of me last season, and I wanted to do even better this season, but it didn’t work like that and I will go again next season.

“It’s been frustrating [to be on the bench] because it’s the first time that’s happened to me. The [squad is] all behind me because they know that it’s not the best time for me, and it’s the first time I’ve been through this hard time without scoring. They wanted to give me a big boost.”

Christian Benteke scores for Crystal Palace in the Premier League win against Leicester.
Christian Benteke has struggled in front of goal this season but scored a penalty in Crystal Palace’s win against Leicester.

Hodgson admitted that Wilfried Zaha could leave after he impressed against Leicester, scoring the opening goal and assisting the second before being brought down in the challenge that led to Marc Albrighton’s straight red card.

“That’ll be a club issue,” Hodgson said when asked about potential interest in Zaha. “He’s not going to stay because of my blue eyes; he’ll stay because he likes playing at Selhurst Park, likes the club, and thinks it’s the right place for him.

“If someone like Wilf’s head is ever turned, it won’t just be because there’s more money involved. It’ll be for other reasons, and that’s something Steve Parish and I will have to contend with. But at the moment, it’s pure speculation.”

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