Now that he is living a good season with Crystal Palace, Belgian striker Christian Benteke has been constantly asked if he felt any kind of bad blood towards German manager Jurgen Klopp for dropping him off the squad. Benteke has repeatedly denied this, but the questions keep on coming and he is frankly getting a bit tired of it. He recently granted an interview to the French journal L'Equipe where he discussed this for the last time.
He said: "I do not think there was a problem with Klopp. We always had a good relationship. I went to see him during my first season at Aston Villa, in 2013, when he wanted to sign me for Borussia Dortmund. He liked my style of play. But when I signed for Liverpool, it was Brendan Rodgers who wanted me. We met up and had some good talks, so I decided to go to Liverpool. Then six games later or so he got fired. One can only accept such things and deal with it.
"When Klopp came in, I was not his first choice because of the other players present. Maybe I was not the best option for him for his style of play, other players were perhaps a better fit. I did not behave like a child. I did not cry about what happened or kicked up a fuss. Even though I clearly wanted to play, it was frustrating."
Photo credit: Crystal Palace