Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke says he is feeling good ahead of the new season and is looking to building his fitness up. Belgium international Benteke missed the first half of the 2018/19 campaign due to a knee injury picked up during pre-season and ended up making just nine Premier League starts.
The 28-year-old has only scored four goals from the last two seasons and there were reports suggesting manager Roy Hodgson was looking to sell him in order to boost his transfer funds. However, those rumours have since been denied and the former Aston Villa star opened the scoring in the 1-1 friendly draw against FC Luzern on Tuesday, which the Eagles ended up winning 6-5 on penalties.
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Speaking after the match, Benteke says he is in a better place than he was 12 months ago and is hoping to get himself in peak shape for the start of the league campaign. “I felt really, really great,” he told Palace TV following the match.
“The main thing is to get the fitness up and be a little bit sharper but I think overall I’m happy because I feel great. “I think for me it’s going to be a really important pre-season. I just want to stay fit, take care of my body and everything will be all right. Last season I was unlucky with my injury during the pre-season but hopefully this season will be a different story.”
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