Christian Benteke has been somewhat of a revelation at Aston Villa this season.

His eleven goals this season in the Premier League – almost half of Villa’s total goal tally of 25 so far this season – have been the corner stone to his side’s fight against relegation this season and Paul Lambert needs the 22-year-old Belgian to rebuild the former midland power house around.

But keeping him will be very much easier said then done this summer, as top Premier League side’s continue to gaze longingly at the potential of another top Belgian striker.  Tottenham Hotspur joined the hunt this week, with Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea all keen to land forward.

Few batted an eyelid when The Villans nabbed Christian from Genk for a mere £8 million this summer, but there’s no surprise in that. Benteke scored 19 goals in 37 appearances for Genk in the 2011/12 season, but the Belgian league is often overlooked when Europe’s elite scour the globe for talent.

Villa took their chance in a 21-year-old with promise and potential but he started slowly in the Premier League this season. His ability to finish was brought into question, especially after racking up just three goals in by December for his new club, but Lambert insisted that his new signing’s name was on the team sheet before Darren Bent, a decision that frustrated the majority of the Holte End.

A brace against Liverpool and seven goals in his last seven games has forced his stock sky high and few in the League are doubting his quality in front of goal, his presence in and around the box, or his powerful play right now.

A trip to White Hart Lane would be the ideal place for Benteke to land this summer if Villa were to let him loose. Emmanuel Adebayor has failed to reach the prolific form he found last season under Harry Redknapp, and Jermaine Defoe can’t lead the Tottenham front line forever, despite the quality he’s shown in front of goal this season. His price could be reasonably cheap when compared to the disastrous signings of Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll from years past and Benteke could be lured away from the Midlands for around £12-£15millon.

The question, though, is should Villa accept a bid for the man who is, at the moment, keeping the club out of the Premier League’s bottom three? We know that Randy Lerner wants to strip the club down, reducing wage costs across the board in an attempt to rebuild a new, young, and cheap Premier League side.  Benteke came in for a great price that fitted with that philosophy, but almost doubling their money on the striker would keep in tune with the clubs financial plan. 

Lerner appears distant from the club and some fans are under the impression that he feels Villa will be able to stay in England’s top flight because they are ‘too big a club to go down’.  If they do stay up this year it will be down to Benteke and his goals and letting him head down to London or elsewhere would mean taking away a potential 15(or so) goals for next season.  With Villa only having scored 25 times in 26 matches, the numbers for next season wouldn’t add up to a mid-table snooze-fest for Villa fans next season.

Unless the club was willing to splash out on another top quality striker, or look to get lucky with a young up-coming forward, Benteke leaving Villa Park would be a disaster for the club.

They may be looking to strip costs and maximize profit at Aston Villa, but that is guaranteed not to happen if next season, or the year after, they’re down in the Championship.