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Aston Villa recently managed to convince striker Christian Benteke to extend his spell at the club. The Belgian striker was signed from Genk only last summer for £ 7 million, but an impressive season in the Premier league has led to him being linked with every big club in England. Chelsea and Tottenham have been linked with a £ 25 million move for his services. The striker handed a transfer request to Aston Villa after just one season at the club. He still had three more years left on his contract that he signed upon his arrival.

However, manager Paul Lambert managed to convince him to stay at Aston Villa because it is a crucial time that could determine his passage into the 2014 World Cup. Belgium are currently one of the favourites to qualify for the 2014 World Cup. Lambert has said that Benteke will struggle to get into the Belgian squad if he does not play regularly in the coming season. He has said that the prospect of regular first-team opportunities is good only at Aston Villa. The striker scored close to 20 goals for the club last season as he helped them avoid relegation.

His huge physical presence has made him a force to reckon with in the Premier league.

“He’s not even at his peak yet. But he has quickly become a cult hero. The big thing for him is to go out and try to do what he did last year,” said the manager after the player signed a new four-year contract with the club. Benteke revealed that he has decided to extend his Aston Villa stay after extensive conversations with Lambert. He has also said that he is extremely thankful of the Aston Villa players and fans, who have been supportive of him in the last one year.

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert praised Christian Benteke after the Chelsea match and he has said that the team definitely missed him in the second half. The Belgian striker scored the first goal in the match to surprise the visitors, who were chasing a Champions League spot. He proved to be a major thorn for the opposition, as they found it difficult to contain his pace and power. The goal against Chelsea was his 23rd of the season, with 20 of those coming in the league. He was signed for just £ 7 million in the summer, which is proving to be a bargain.

Frank Lampard, though, scored two goals in the second half to send Chelsea to a victory, which almost sealed a Champions League spot for the team. The big decision came in the second half when the referee sent off Christian Benteke for his second yellow card. However, Villa manager Lambert has said that he will not be toning down his striker, who has been hugely influential. As a result of the red card, Benteke will miss the final match of the season against Wigan. Villa appear to be relatively safe, although it could be confirmed if Wigan are defeated against Arsenal in the midweek action.

“No. I won’t curtail that. The ‘Big ‘Un’ takes some himself, he’s not a shrinking violet, that’s for sure. If you take that away from really good players you lose a bit of them. We’ll miss him, but we’ve got to go there full of confidence with the way we are playing. We’ve got to just pick ourselves up and go again,” said Lambert. Villa are currently 16th in the table after 37 matches. The team have 40 points on the board and they have 2 wins in the last 5 matches.