Brendan Rodgers has backed under-fire Liverpool striker Christian Benteke to succeed at Anfield provided he is given time under new boss Jurgen Klopp, reports the Independent.
The Belgian has struggled in his time at the club so far, scoring just seven goals in all competitions.
Benteke was signed by Rodgers in the summer after impressing at Aston Villa with a goal scoring ratio of almost a goal every two games.
But the number nine has, so far, been mainly used as a substitute since the arrival of Klopp, with Roberto Firmino being preferred to lead the line despite the centre-forward position being an unfamiliar one for the Brazilian.
The ex-Liverpool manager explained that he signed Benteke on the basis that he was one of the best strikers available to him in terms of strike rate.
Rodgers claimed that patience is the key in order to get the best out of Benteke, and explained why he bought him.
He said:
We felt at that time that Christian was up there in terms of goals to games.
We felt that he was someone that we didn’t have in the squad. The problem now is the patience element. There doesn’t seem to be time.
We talk about patience. An example is Robert Lewandowski at Bayern Munich and he wouldn’t have got the patience in the Premier League that he did in the Bundesliga and now look at him. Christian over time will show he’s a top class player.
