Brendan Rodgers believes Christian Benteke will become a “huge player” for Liverpool and insists the striker is suited to his side’s style of play.
The Belgium international completed his £32.5 million move from Aston Villa earlier this week but former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has questioned whether the 24-year-old will be able to adapt to Rodgers’ “short, sharp and incisive passing game”.
Rodgers, however, has no concerns over Benteke’s versatility and says the Belgian’s record of 42 goals in 89 Premier League games was an important factor when targeting a new striker.
“There’s a number of qualities that he has and he will only improve in his time at the club,” Rodgers told Liverpool’s official website.
“I think first and foremost his goals, if you look at his goals record since the time that he’s been in the Premier League he's up there with the best in terms of numbers. So that was very important for us.
“Obviously I've heard and I've seen stuff about the style, 'he won't fit the style of how we play' - I think he'll only complement it and help us. He’s a big guy but he’s got the attributes that I like in terms of pace and movement and he gets goals, he gets all types of goals.
“He's great in the air, strong, he can hold the game up, he can play on the counter-attack, he can play whenever the team is deep because he can hold the ball up with his physical strength.
“As I said, he's a boy that still is improving in his game so I don’t think there’s any doubt he'll fit our tactical idea of the game and he can be a huge player for us.”
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