Christian Benteke rates Jurgen Klopp as no. 1

Former Liverpool striker Christian Benteke rates Jurgen Klopp as the best manager he has ever worked under.

It didn’t really work out at Anfield for Benteke, although he doesn’t hold anything against Klopp for selling him to Crystal Palace.

Brendan Rodgers bought the Belgian from Aston Villa, and while his career started well, it hit a nosedive from which it never recovered.

After some time it was plain to see that Benteke couldn’t fit in with the Klopp way of playing and a sale was inevitable after that.

With just 10 goals in 42 appearances and a reduced role in the side behind Roberto Firmino and Divock Origi, the Belgian wasn’t hanging around and left for London for £27 million.

But despite that lack of game time, Benteke still hails Klopp as the best manager he’s worked under and says he has no hard feelings about the decision to sell him.

Liverpool needed pace, he said, which the forward can’t provide as readily as Firmino or Origi. He just didn’t fit in with the style, and these things happen.

2018/2019 has been a tough one for Benteke, who suffered a knee injured which forced him to miss large chunks of the campaign.

As a result of this, the Belgian only scored once for Palace in 16 games – but will be targeting something a lot better next season.

Liverpool have had a better season as they saw two forwards, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, finish the campaign on 22 goals. Firmino didn’t reach the heights he did for 2017/2018, but can still be pleased with his performances.

There is one final hurdle to overcome before minds can turn towards the end of season break and the new transfer window and that’s the Champions League final against Tottenham on the 1st of July.

With that done and dusted, Klopp can have more conversations about the future of squad players.