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Atletico Madrid to rival Arsenal, Tottenham and City for Villa hitman Christian Benteke
ASTON VILLA are braced for a fight to hold onto star striker Christian Benteke this summer after Atletico Madrid joined the clubs interested in the Belgian after selling £50m Falcao to Monaco.
Atletico have joined Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund in registering serious interest in Benteke, following his admission last week that he wants to leave Villa Park.
Aston Villa are hopeful of tying down the 22-year-old to a new contract, while manager Paul Lambert moved to downplay claims he will leave the club this summer.
But with the number of teams tracking Benteke increasing - and with £50 million burning a hole in Atletico's pocket following their sale of coveted marksman Falcao - their hopes of keeping the Belgium hitman are diminishing.
"I hope that if I leave my club a deal can be done more quickly than the one last year," Benteke said last week.
"There is no point in me getting into a tug-of-war with Villa, and I don’t think there is any need for one. If the chance comes up for me to join a club like Arsenal, I am convinced that we can reach a compromise where everybody comes out a winner.
"If Villa say that I have to stay put, I will find it hard to accept."
Benteke finished his debut Premier League season as the fourth-highest top scorer with 19 strikes, and Lambert is loathe to let him go easily.
"He's got three years here at Aston Villa and the club have always come first," replied Lambert after the quotes by Benteke emerged from his homeland.
"I think sometimes we've got to have a reality check here. This lad's only been in Britain for 10 months. He's got the status at Aston Villa and everybody loves him."