Reflecting upon our business within the transfer window, one outgoing that appeared to be swept under the carpet, was the departure of Christian Benteke.
Benteke has had a huge part to play in our Premier League journey, after signing for us from Liverpool in August 2016. After almost 6 years at the club, his departure was announced with just one tweet, hours before our opening game of the season against Arsenal.
The Belgian has swapped the Premier League for MLS, as he joined Wayne Rooney’s DC United.
His time at the club is viewed very differently by all Palace fans. A bit like marmite; you either love him or hate him. I love him, and feel as though his attacking presence has been missed massively at the start of this campaign.
He started his career at Palace like every striker hopes for. Top goal scorer in his first season, scoring 17 goals. However, unfortunately that was the peak of his Palace career.
Benteke was favoured in his first season for Palace with manager Alan Pardew, bringing him in to suit his style of play. This evidently paid off with his second highest scoring season in the Premier League, after his debut season with Aston Villa in 2012/13. However, in a midst of 4 managerial changes and new styles of play being implemented, Benteke was left on the bench week-in, week-out.
Standout moments from his debut season would be scoring a brace to win 2-1 against his former club, Liverpool, in April 2017. In the same month, Palace secured a 2-1 win over Chelsea with a stunning chip from Benteke to equalise in the 11th minute. The perfectly timed pause and immense composure from the striker, to place the ball over Thibaut Courtois, was beautiful.
However, unfortunately, the Belgian striker then went on to only net 20 more goals in his following five years at the club. Mixed with injury concerns in 2018/19 season, Benteke was never the same player and didn’t suit the systems he was playing under. Although, a comeback in 2020/21 saw him net 10 goals, including scoring in four consecutive Premier League games for the first time in eight years.
His overall presence up front is an aspect that not many strikers behold. His strength in 1v1 battles and aerial positioning is what makes him admirable.
Benteke is on the top 10 list for the most headed goals in Premier League history, level with Tim Cahill tallying 31 throughout his career.
In a heartbreaking interview with The Athletic, Benteke states “personally, maybe I still don’t know what happiness is, really.” Benteke claims that after achieving his dream of playing in the Premier League for 10 years, it was time to move on from trying to fit into the PL, as he left his wife and kids behind to move to America, in a bid for more game time.
Since his departure, he does not appear to be settling in too well in America, with his first appearance for DC United off the bench and making little-to-no impact. His debut start came against Colorado Rapids, in a 0-0 draw. Benteke missed a penalty and tallied up 7 shots without firing home.
In his further two starts against Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City, DC United saw a bore draw in the first fixture, followed by a 3-0 loss. Despite this, a goalless Benteke has been active up top, registering 16 shots across his first 3 appearances.
His luck then changed in the fixture against Inter Miami CF, as Benteke netted his first goal for the American side. A beautiful strike past the keeper, slotting into the bottom corner to break the deadlock in the 22nd minute. Unfortunately, DC United went on to lose 3-2.
However, the striker offers more to a team than just goals. His aerial challenges and up front positioning is more technically advanced than just netting goals. His work rate off the ball is just as influential to relieve defensive pressure and get into the box.
Naturally, a move from London to Washington is a big shift and once Benteke has acclimatised to the change and settled into the new team, there is no reason why he cannot be performing at his best again.
Best of luck, Christian!
