Paul Lambert says Aston Villa needed to sign a striker like Christian Benteke

13 December 2012 10:37
Paul Lambert says working with Christian Benteke has been an "absolute dream" since the Belgian striker joined Aston Villa in the summer.

Benteke signed for Lambert's side at the end of August and has gone on to establish himself as the club's main front man, scoring six goals in his 16 appearances so far. Before his move to Villa the 22-year-old had never played for a club outside Belgium but he has had no problems adapting to the Premier League.

"The football club needed somebody like him to play up front. (assistant manager) Ian (Culverhouse) and myself were speaking to see what we could do to have a look at some things,"

Lambert told the Daily Mirror.

"I know the Belgian manager Marc Wilmots as I have played against him and I spoke to him about Christian. We kept on persevering, persevering and then we managed to get him.

"The guy has been an absolute dream to work with." Benteke was on the scoresheet again as Villa defeated Norwich 4-1 to book a spot in the semi-finals of the Capital One Cup and Lambert is confident he can perform at the highest level. He added: "I watched him in the Belgian team and he has more than held his own in that company. And Belgium have got a good team at the minute.

"What he does with the Belgium team he just seems to bring that (to the club). He has been absolutely fantastic for us."

Source: team_talk