Aston Villa to offer Christian Benteke new contract

Aston Villa have admitted that they plan to offer Christian Benteke a new contract this summer.

The Belgian striker has been heavily linked with a move to Liverpool in this window, and only has two years left on his current deal.

However, Villa chief executive Tom Fox hopes that Benteke's relationship with manager Tim Sherwood will convince him to stay.

He told Sky Sports News: "We are obviously going to offer him a new contract in the summer. He's a fantastic player and one of the top strikers in the Premier League and I think he is someone who is recognised around the world as one of the top strikers.

"He was critically important as you saw this year for us. His goals in the second half of the season were fundamental to us staying up. He's settled in England. He has got a good relationship with everyone at the club.

"I know him and Tim have a great working relationship, so our hope is we can keep him. I haven't had any conversations with him, I know he's got two years left on his deal as a starting point, so I am fairly certain we can have him back next year if we want."

The 24-year-old scored 16 times last season.