Christian Benteke

Standard Liège and Genk

Benteke played youth football for JS Pierreuse and later Standard Liège before moving to Genk. He rejoined Standard in January 2009 and scored three goals in 12 matches as the Walloon club won the 2008–09 Belgian championship. On 7 August 2009, he joined KV Kortrijk on loan for a season, where he scored 14 goals in the Belgian Pro League, including five goals in the championship play-offs, as the club achieved its best ever finish. He spent the following season on loan at KV Mechelen as part of the transfer of Aloys Nong, who moved from Mechelen to Standard Liège. Benteke's spell at Mechelen was less successful, with seven goals from 25 appearances. He returned to Genk from Standard in August 2011 for an undisclosed fee, and went on to score 16 goals and register nine assists in 20 starts during the 2011–12 season. After beginning the 2012–13 season with three goals from five league matches, Benteke was subject of an offer of €6m from Premier League club Aston Villa in August 2012.

Aston Villa

2012–13 season

On 31 August 2012, Benteke joined Premier League club Aston Villa on a four-year contract for a fee believed to be around £7 million. On 15 September 2012, Benteke scored on his debut for Aston Villa in a 2–0 win against Swansea City, after coming on as a substitute for Austrian forward Andreas Weimann. The goal came when Swansea defender Ashley Williams headed the ball into Benteke's path, which he then lifted over…

Benteke was a member of the Belgium U17 team at the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup in South Korea where he played three games and scored once. On 19 May 2010, he made his senior debut for the Belgium national team in a friendly match against Bulgaria in Brussels after his former coach at Kortrijk, Georges Leekens, became national coach. On 15 August 2012, he scored his first goal in a 4–2 win against the Netherlands. Since then, he has become a regular starter for Belgium under Marc Wilmots. On 29 May 2013, he scored twice in a 4–2 friendly victory against the United States in Cleveland, Ohio. He scored two goals in seven appearances during qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but was ruled out of the tournament finals with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Benteke returned to Belgium's squad for the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, scoring his first international goal for two years in a 5–0 defeat of Cyprus on 28 March 2015. He was selected for the final tournament in France, and made his tournament debut in the second group game on 18 June, replacing Romelu Lukaku for the last seven minutes of a 3–0 win over the Republic of Ireland in Bordeaux. He played three more minutes in place of the same player four days later in a victory over Sweden, but took no further part as the Belgians reached the quarter-finals and lost to Wales. On 10 October 2016, Benteke set a record for the fastest goal in a World Cup match—either qualifying or the finals—when he scored after 8.1 seconds…

Benteke was born in Kinshasa in 1990. He and his family fled during the Mobutu regime and in 1993 emigrated to Liège, Belgium.

Benteke is a Christian and supports Arsenal.