Christian Benteke may look ill-suited to Liverpool’s style of play, but the Belgian is more Didier Drogba than Andy Carroll and WILL score goals - fan view

• Aston Villa's Christian Benteke looks set for a move to Liverpool 
• Reds are set to trigger Benteke's £32.5m release clause 
• Belgian scored 12 goals in 12 games towards the end of last season 
• Liverpool fans are split on whether he'd be a good signing
• Click here for more Liverpool news 

By David Tyrer Of Live4liverpool

Published: 06:23 EST, 17 July 2015 | Updated: 07:51 EST, 17 July 2015

As Liverpool close in on a £32.5million move for Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke, blogger David Tyrer of Live4Liverpool gives the view from Merseyside on the big Belgian.

Christian Benteke. It's a name that elicits different things in different people. For some, he's a lumbering donkey that is just there to be hit with constant crosses. 

For others, he's a rough diamond with a superb goal-scoring record in the top league in Europe, who could be carved into one of Europe's deadliest strikers if given the right guidance.

As far as I'm concerned, the truth is somewhere in between. 

Liverpool are set to meet Aston Villa's £32.5million release clause for Aston Villa frontman Christian Benteke

The 24-year-old scored 12 goals in 12 games last season to help Villa from avoiding the drop

The most prevalent comparison we've seen, when talking or Tweeting about Benteke, has been with Andy Carroll. The £35m record signing is a huge black mark on Liverpool's transfer history and his performances in a Red shirt were underwhelming at best. 

There's is also no arguing that there is a definite similarity in playing style. Both are strong in the air, lanky, have a powerful shot and can drift in and out of games. Both can also be a handful on their day.

The big difference is that Benteke is excellent with the ball at his feet and, despite only seeing it in flashes recently, he is probably more similar to a Fernando Torres (pre-Chelsea) or Didier Drogba, in that he uses his limited attributes to his greatest advantage. 

Liverpool fans won't want to be reminded of the £35m their club splashed out on Andy Carroll

Benteke's style of play is more like former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba than former Reds flop Carroll

He isn't particularly fast, he isn't known for his pace and he has that awkwardness that you associate with tall strikers, but he scores plenty of goals, and isn't that all that matters? 

Of course it isn't. Because like it or not, there is a certain aesthetic snobbishness in football these days, and we want to see our team play the best, most attractive football. 

As Liverpool fans we want to play like Barcelona, and after the signing of Roberto Firmino it seemed like that was the direction we were going in. Benteke would, on paper, signal a complete change in playing styles and it has many Liverpool fans (myself included) hugely concerned.

We're used to seeing (mostly) attractive, attacking football under Rodgers, with Sturridge, Sterling and Coutinho the pinup boys of that style, and Benteke represents what seems to be a contradictory signing. Can he press high up the field? 

Benteke shows his power as he looks to get away from Newcastle defender Fabricio Coloccini

Fingers will be pointed towards Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers should Benteke become another Reds flop

Will he work for 90+ minutes to defend from the front and be a constant thorn in the opposition's side? Again, on paper, the answer seems to be 'no'. The worry is that we’re going to see a change in playing style to adapt to the big forward man and this wouldn’t be unusual for Rodgers, considering how often he altered his formations at the back end of last season. 

It's a similar situation to the signing of Rickie Lambert last season, in a way, with a tall, slow, dangerous-in-the-air striker (who's actually quite handy on the deck) signing to utter bemusement from Reds, but he cost £4m so we shrugged, smiled and thought 'good for Rickie'. 

The assumption was that he'd be a different option, a plan B. That didn't work out too well, did it? And at £32.5m, Benteke will represent a sizeable outlay and a very, very expensive plan B.

Rickie Lambert (left) hasn't been able to fit into Liverpool's style of play since his £4m move

The simple fact is though, is that he won't be the option from the bench. At that price he will be a cert to start regularly and it looks as if it’s going to happen, so we'd probably best get on board. When genuine world class talent is available for barely a bit more, it's a hard signing to swallow but reassure yourself with this: he's a young, talented striker. 

He's been tracked by other, better placed (financially and in the league) clubs and his goal-scoring record is one every other game over three years, despite injury. If that's not enough, just recall the damage he's done to us over the years and accept the fact that Brendan is probably well aware he can't fail in the transfer market this summer. 

And if the club are certain Benteke is what we need, then we have to get behind the lad and make him feel like one of our own.

You can read more from Live4Liverpool HERE and follow the Twitter account HERE 

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