"?Aston Villa's eccentric new owner Tony Xia has revealed that he is still waiting for Liverpool to make their final payments for Christian Benteke, who moved to Crystal Palace this week in a £27m deal.
The 25-year-old left Aston Villa for Liverpool last summer, completing a £32m switch. But the Belgium international struggled to pave his way into Jurgen Klopp's first-team, prompting a move away from Anfield this summer.
Benteke made a bizarre gaffe following his recent move to the Eagles, claiming that he had signed for Burnley, before quickly correcting himself,
https://twitter.com/chrisbenteke/status/766967260120543232 — (@chrisbenteke) December 6, 2017
?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet" target="_blank">"?writing on Twitter
Oops my bad lol Yes I signed for cpfc and not burnley. Sorry for the little mistake the person that manages my Twitter got a little confused
Jokes aside, Tony Xia has admitted that Jurgen Klopp's side are yet to pay the full £32m fee for Benteke, despite recently recouping £27m of it.
In response to the question: "Have we received all payments now regarding the sale of Benteke to Liverpool?" Xia replied: "No. Paid by several payments."
No. Paid by several payments. https://t.co/rNTyOWkZ09
The Chinese businessman, who is the CEO and owner of Recon Group, has marked a positive change for Villa, who were woefully relegated from the Premier League last season.
"?Xia is proactive on social media, offering transparency to supporters on the club's transfer policy.
So far he was brought in four players, with James Chester joining from rivals West Brom, Tommy Elphick for £3m from Bournemouth, Pierluigi Gollini on a free transfer and Aaron Tshibola, who joins from Reading.