Crystal Palace defender Damien Delaney has said new signing Christian Benteke “is not Lionel Messi” and will need support from the squad.
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Pardew hopes playing regularly will help Benteke, who scored 49 goals in 101 appearances for Villa, flourish at Palace following a hard season at Liverpool.
Palace have smashed their club record transfer by spending £27million to bring in Belgium striker Benteke from Liverpool.
I hope some of you got on my 1-0 Spurs tip from the weekend.
Benteke’s arrival provides a much-needed boost to Alan Pardew’s side after failing to score in either of their Premier League games so far.
“[But] we’re not signing Messi – he’s a good player but he’s not a player who is going to get the ball and make things happen”.
The £27 million club-record signing Benteke was replaced at half-time by Wickham – as had been Pardew’s plan – but the 55-year-old was pleased he was given a chance to improve his match fitness in the same way the returning Yohan Cabaye and James McArthur also were.
“Christian’s arrived and taken a bit of weight off Connor”.
“I’m pleased we’ve come through and can set ourselves up for what is a big game on Saturday”.
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Benteke will nearly certainly making his Premier League debut for Palace this Saturday, as the Eagles welcome the visit of Bournemouth, who failed to get going in Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to West Ham.
