Arsenal legend Martin Keown has called for the Arsene Wenger to sign Aston Villa star Christian Benteke, reports the Daily Mail.
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The Gunners face the Midlands side in the FA Cup final on Saturday, and their former defender thinks if there is one player they should sign from their opponents it should be the Belgian. The striker has scored 16 goals in 36 appearances this season, but perhaps more impressively has 13 in the 17 matches since Tim Sherwood took over as manager at Villa Park.
The North London club have long been linked with forwards. Current first choice Olivier Giroud has been dogged by the opinion that he isn’t top class, and the Frenchman hasn’t done himself any favours by not scoring in his last eight matches. However, replacement Theo Walcott did net a hat trick in their last encounter to strengthen his calls to play centrally.
When asked who could improve Arsenal from Villa, Keown said: “I think Christian Benteke would be the only one. Fabian Delph is a key player but is like Villa’s Jack Wilshere, and Arsenal have one of those already. Benteke is a better all-round footballer than people give him credit for. He’s one of the best headers of the ball in the Premier League but he is excellent on the deck too.
“He’s coming back from a very bad injury but he doesn’t seem to have lost any of his spring or pace.
Arsenal have a similar player in Olivier Giroud but it never hurts to have competition. If he came to Arsenal it certainly wouldn’t make them any weaker.”
The 48-year-old was speaking ahead of the teams facing each other in the FA Cup final, which the Gunners are favourites to win. However, they will have to make sure to take the Villains seriously , as they are well capable of an upset.