This summer will see the arrival of Belgian international striker Divock Origi at Liverpool, 12 months after the Anfield side paid £10million to French club Lille for the 20-year-old and immediately loaned him back for the season.
The youngster is the latest of Belgium’s golden generation to join the Premier League. Next season’s campaign will see the country’s top three strikers battle it out — Christian Benteke at Aston Villa, Romelu Lukaku at Everton and Origi at Liverpool.
But who will win the battle of the Belgian strikers?
Benteke looked like the bargain of the century during his first season at Villa. Signed from Genk for just £7m just after the start of the 2012/2013 campaign, he turned into the season’s surprise package ending the campaign with 23 goals in all competitions.
This led to speculation about his future with a number of other teams declaring an interest in signing him.
Benteke even handed in a transfer request during that summer, however after talks with then-Villa manager Paul Lambert he signed a new deal to remain at Villa Park.
The following season was not so easy for him. Struggling with niggling injuries throughout the season he only managed 11 goals in 28 appearances and also missed the 2014 World Cup.
His poor form continued into this term with the striker appearing to struggle for consistency and Villa as a whole bereft of goals until the arrival of Tim Sherwood.
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Since Sherwood’s arrival as Villa manager, Benteke has had his resurgence; his two goals against Everton at the beginning of May meant he had scored eleven goals in nine games taking his total for the season to 14.
Villa fans will be hoping that he can continue this form into next season and that they can fend off any offers for him during the summer with speculation arising once again that other Premier league clubs are considering making an offer.
On the other hand, Romelu Lukaku is Mr Consistent. In 2012/2013 whilst on loan at West Brom he scored 17 goals for the season. The following year, on loan at Everton, he scored 16 goals and so far this year he has scored 19 goals in all competitions. These are impressive numbers for a 21-year-old who is still developing his game and also carrying the burden of being Everton’s record signing at £28million.
Roberto Martinez is convinced that Lukaku will become one of the world’s best strikers but, like Villa, Everton’s biggest problem should he keep improving will be keeping hold of a man who has made no secret of his desire to play in the Champions league.
At 20, Divock Origi is the youngest of the three and has been hailed as an exciting prospect after impressing at the World Cup, so much so that there was talk in January of Liverpool recalling him early from his loan spell when they were in desperate need of a goalscorer.
However, Origi has had a disappointing season with the French club and has only scored nine goals this season in what could be argued is a far less competitive league than the Premier League. He also had a six month goal drought. In one recent poll conducted by a French football website, Origi came second in the most overrated player category.
In three seasons at Lille, he has a scoring record of 16 goals in 86 appearances. After the disappointment of Mario Balotelli’s poor form and losing Daniel Sturridge for much of this season with injury, it is unlikely that Brendan Rodgers will be relying solely on Origi to provide goals. This may mean that Rodgers will be in the transfer market for a big name striker in the summer which, in turn, could limit Origi’s starts for Liverpool.
However, if Origi can adapt to the Premier league like his compatriots have, and his game continues to develop, £10m for a young international player may yet prove to be a very good deal indeed.
