Villa consider Chelsea forward as Benteke replacement

Aston Villa are resigned to losing Christian Benteke after the forward asked to leave and Paul Lambert wants Chelsea’s Demba Ba to replace him, according to recent rumours.

The Daily Star report that Benteke can leave Villa Park as long as the £25 million asking price is met and he would seem Tottenham bound and Ba will be available for around the £7m the Blues paid back in January.

It’s thought that the Senegalese striker doesn’t figure in Jose Mourinho’s plans and this wouldn’t be a great surprise as Fernando Torres looks to stay at Stamford Bridge, Romelu Lukaku will be given the chance he deserves and we can’t rule out the arrival of a new face.

Ba was brought in six months ago to backup Torres for the second half of the season and has probably never been considered as a long term option despite boasting a very good scoring record in the Premier League for West Ham then Newcastle United. His time at Chelsea wasn’t so successful and the forward only bagged six in 22 games. Perhaps Chelsea is a little too big a step for the 28-year-old.

The story says that Ba’s wages would be the only thing that could complicate his exit from West London as he’s on a reported £90,000-a-week, which will definitely be something the Blues would want to remove from their books as well as freeing up a squad place.

I wouldn’t be against giving Ba more time at Chelsea but it’s difficult to see how he would fit into Mourinho’s plans and is far too expensive to be considered a backup option. There’s not a realistic option to get rid of Torres at the moment and someone has to go in order for either a new signing or Lukaku getting fair game time.

Source: Daily Star